


Creepy Hide & Seek

by sitabethel



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Deathshipping, M/M, Thiefshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:35:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 54,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4900516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sitabethel/pseuds/sitabethel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years after the Ceremonial Duel, Ryo finds a summoning game that allows him to bring the Spirit of the Ring back for an hour each night. However, when Marik discovers Ryo's secret, will he be able to follow the rules to the game? Thiefshipping and Deathshipping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, One Man Hide & Seek is a game you can find on Creepy Pasta. You'll never catch my ass playing it, and I wouldn't recommend anyone else playing it. Like, forget lemon disclaimers - don't summon things into your house because it violates all rules of common sense!**

**There's a Japanese horror movie about it as well, but I've only ever seen the first five minutes of it so I have no idea how it ends.**

**This was my attempt at horror - my failed attempt. I had to bump this to supernatural romance because it simply doesn't scare me. How do you frighten characters that used to play with Shadow Magic with the same ease as others play with Legos? Regardless, I still hope you like it. There won't be a whole lot of smut in this one (some, just not as much as there could have been?) because I got a challenge to write "more plot and less smut" so I accepted it, and then Googled whatever the hell plot was (j/k), because if you read my stories you'll notice they're more character driven than plot driven. I . . . tried to add plot . . . Yami Marik gets a puppy at one point, is that plot?**

 

* * *

Ryo made the doll himself, white cloth for skin and white yarn for hair. He fashioned white pipe cleaners into the yarn to give it a wild, spiked appearance. He knew he technically should have used brown cloth for skin, sewn a pink scar into the cheek and dressed the doll in red silk, but that's not how Ryo remembered him, so Ryo used white cloth and his old sweater and pants to make clothes.

He stuffed the doll with rice and a few nail clippings from his fingers, and then he sealed the doll closed with needle and scarlet thread. The seam looked like an autopsy scar marring the doll's corpse. Ryo used the extra thread to bind the doll. Finished, he admired his handiwork. A little too cute, but it would serve.

Ryo walked to his bathroom, setting the doll on the counter. He plugged his tub and filled it with cold water. As the water rose against the tub's porcelain sides, Ryo filled a cup with sea salt and water and set it in his bedroom closet. Ryo turned on the t.v. He changed the input from hdmi 1 to channel 3 in order to show static on the screen. By the time he finished the tub was filled enough to start the game.

The apartment stood dark and quiet, except for the bathroom light and the consistent, grating drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . of water into the tub. A chill licked down the back of Ryo's neck as he stared down at the doll. It was his last chance to forget the game, go to his living room, play Mario Kart, stay safe.

But Mario Kart wasn't as fun to play alone.

And even after five years of telling himself otherwise, Ryo still regretted how things ended with the spirit who once possessed him.

"Your name is Bakura," Ryo told the doll.

The rules warned against using the player's own name, but it wasn't really Ryo's name anymore. Not since the thief stole it from Ryo and wore it like a carmine cloak.

Ryo checked the time on his cell, 3:00 am. Time to begin.

Ryo looked at the doll. "Ryo is the first to be it. Ryo is the first to be it. Ryo is the first to be it."

He set the doll down in the water. He watched a moment as the doll sank to the bottom, white yarn hair reaching for Ryo like so many skeletal fingers. He wondered if that was what it was like, in the Shadows, cold and submerged in darkness.

Drip . . . drip . . . drip.

Ryo turned away and flicked the light off as he left. He jogged to his bedroom closet and hid, leaving the door open a crack in order to see the t.v. The snow crackled on the screen. It didn't look unordinary, just salt and pepper swarming across the screen.

Ryo closed his eyes and pulled a long, calm breath into his lungs before counting.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

"Seven. "

"Eight. "

"Nine."

"Ten."

Ryo walked back to the restroom. From his pocket he pulled out a pair of stainless steel scissors. With his left hand he fished the doll out from the water. Gooseflesh prickled up his arms from the chill of the water. Ryo shook the excess liquid from the doll and laid it dripping on the bathroom counter.

"I found you, Bakura."

The rules said to stab the doll once, but Ryo stabbed it seven times. Five in the sternum, once in the left hand, and one last time in the arm. He wanted to make sure he pulled the correct spirit from the void, so Ryo took extra precautions.

"You're it, Bakura. "You're it, Bakura. You're it, Bakura."

Ryo ran back to his hiding place. He filled his mouth with salt water. It tasted sharp on his tongue and he wanted to spit, but forced himself to keep the water in his mouth.

He waited a moment, wondering if he should search for the doll, but if he did the ritual correctly, summoned the right spirit, then Bakura would find him.

Ryo jerked when the soft hum of television static turn to a high-pitched whine. It trilled for half a minute and boiled down to a grumble. The screen flicked. Ryo thought he saw the distorted image of humanesque shadows creeping on the screen behind the gray and black snow. His heart convulsed in his chest. These games were never safe, but for a previous Item holder, one who knew the workings of Shadow Magic, they were akin to Russian roulette.

The closet door creaked open and Ryo almost screamed, but the salt water in his mouth was his only protection, so he suppressed the reflex to swallow and stayed still.

A sigh of relief hissed out his nostrils when he saw the crimson eyes staring down at him.

"Why are you hiding in the closet?"

Ryo patted the carpet beside him to encourage Bakura to sit. Ryo opened a memo pad up on his phone and typed, "we're playing hide & seek."

"Ah." Bakura narrowed his stare. "You're older."

Ryo nodded and typed, "I'm 23."

"Five years? Then why summon me back? Why now?"

Ryo tapped letters onto his phone screen. "I had to find the right game. I had to make sure I brought you back - not him."

Bakura nodded. "Smart. He's not very pleased how things ended, and since you wore the Ring it'd be easy for him to possess you if you made any mistakes."

Ryo nodded.

Bakura fell silent. He turned away from Ryo. Thanks . . . for not forgetting about me."

Ryo rested his hand on Bakura's shoulder.

"How long do I have?"

"An hour," Ryo answered via the phone.

A pained sound escaped from the back of Bakura's throat. A strangled noise he failed to hold in.

"So it's that bad? In the Shadows."

Bakura winced. He avoided Ryo's question by asking his own. "Why aren't you speaking?"

"Salt water. The game ends when I spit it out."

"Idiot. You're going through all that trouble just so I can visit?"

Ryo nodded.

"Idiot."

The insult made Ryo smile. He knew Bakura needed a change of subject, so he wrote, "speaking of idiots, guess who's in my advanced comp class?"

Bakura shook his head. "I don't care about any of them. Now that the Pharaoh's gone, his adoring servants are inconsequential."

"Even Marik?"

Bakura couldn't mask the raw emotion that bled through his expression as he read Marik's name. "He's here? In Domino?"

Ryo nodded. "For college. He lives in this apartment complex, two floors above me."

Bakura stared at the carpet. "So, he's doing well?"

"I think he misses you. He always seems sad when he looks at me."

Another silence stretched between them. The t.v. made the shadows scramble across their faces. Bakura jerked to his feet. "Why are we sitting in the dark? Don't you still have your Duel Monster cards?"

Ryo did have all his old cards - shoved in binders in a closet somewhere. He stood to follow Bakura. As they walked past the t.v. the static flarred on the screen and through the speakers. Ryo saw a not-human face glaring at them through the t.v. snow. Zorc. Ryo jumped and grabbed Bakura, burying his face in Bakura's side. He wasn't sure how he kept the water in his mouth without choking.

Bakura pulled Ryo out of the bedroom and into the hallway. "On second thought, I think it's time you spit out that water and end this game."

Ryo shook his head no. Bakura didn't show emotions easily; the fact that he'd winced when Ryo spoke of the Shadows confirmed every dreadful scenario that ever kept Ryo awake at night. How could he end the game early and send Bakura back to the darkness? He couldn't. That's why he kept the salt water in his mouth although it made his mouth water and his throat dry, although the thought of Zorc ever returning turned his bowels to icewater.

"You've grown impudent since I've been gone." Bakura crossed his arms over his chest. "I told you to end the game. I didn't ask."

Ryo shook his head a second time.

"Ryo."

Ryo swiped words on his phone as quick as he could. "Fuck you, Bakura. The summon doesn't decide when to end the game."

Bakura opened his mouth to argue, but paused and then asked, "when did you start saying fuck?"

Ryo smiled, taking a moment to answer on his phone. "Well, you see, there was this spirit who used to possess me, and all he ever said was fuck, fuck, fuck, in my head - every day - and it kinda stuck in my mind."

Bakura read Ryo's phone and started laughing. Ryo covered his hand over his mouth. Water dribbled from his lips, but he kept more than enough in his mouth. He lead Bakura to the kitchen table. In better circumstances, Ryo would set the kettle on for tea, but he couldn't drink it, and Bakura wasn't one to sip tea at a kitchen table.

Instead, they sat from across each other in amiable silence for a moment. Ryo tried to think of something to type on his phone, but everything that came to mind seemed trivial.

He settled for typing, "I'm sorry."

Bakura glanced at the phone. "Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "For everything. Everything."

"Quit being stupid."

"We only have fifteen more minutes. Tell me a story."

"Do I look like your mother? I'm not going to tuck you in and tell you a bed time story."

"What was your life like?"

Bakura sat quiet for two minutes. "Hard. It was hard."

"Tell me something. When's the first time you ever summoned Diabound?"

A twitch of smile (smile, not smirk) turned up the corner of Bakura's lips. "It was three days after my village burned. I was starving. I could see the fish in the river, but couldn't catch them. Not sure exactly how I did it, but the next thing I knew Diabound was in front of me with two fish. Even then I knew I had to survive . . . to get revenge." Bakura shook his head. "For all the good that did."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop it."

Ryo stared at the table.

Bakura lifted up his shirt, revealing a line of red thread sown into his cloth-flesh.

Again, Ryo thought of autopsy scars.

"You know, the irony of you bringing me back as a doll didn't go unnoticed."

Ryo smiled. "That was one of the charms of this game specifically. I'm good with dolls and magic."

"Me too." Bakura snickered. "Putting souls in dolls is fun, isn't it?"

"You're such a dick."

"And you're the idiot that brought me back."

Ryo dropped his gaze.

"Yeah, I know. It's been a little over an hour."

Ryo retrieved the other half of the salt water to close out the ritual. He barely dribbled the water out of his mouth, allowing the drops to roll down Bakura's clothes. He was a vengeful spirit possessing a doll, the salt water would feel like acid on his skin, so Ryo was careful.

"I win." Ryo sniffed, tears pooled around his eyes. "I win." A sob choked out of his mouth.

"Christ, quit sniveling and banish me already."

"We'll play again."

"Whatever."

Ryo swiped at his eyes. "I win. "

He poured the last of the water on Bakura's head. Ryo couldn't really tell when Bakura stopped being himself and started being a regular doll, but by the time the last of the water left Ryo's glass, only a doll of cloth and yarn lay on the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryo played often. He clipped his nails until they bled. The spirit noticed and spent that entire hour screaming at Ryo for being careless, so the next time Ryo tried a strand of hair instead of nail clippings. When the spell worked just as well, Ryo switched - he had more than enough hair - while his nails grew back.

Except for mutterings about revenge, Ryo never could get the spirit to talk much when he had the Ring. Now Ryo was determined to understand the spirit as a person, to know what food he liked and what he loved or dreamt about when he slept.

They stayed away from the television screens. Most nights they sat in the kitchen and played Duel Monsters while Bakura spoke in a quiet voice. The first nights Ryo had to drag the stories out of Bakura's mouth, but the more Bakura spoke the easier it became for him until the words flowed from his parted lips like fresh cream pouring out a tipped pitcher.

Bakura liked spicy food, anything heaping with garlic. He dreamt of ghosts. Sometimes they burned in golden fires and sometimes they spoke to him, either way Bakura hated to dream. Of love he wouldn't speak, but Ryo already knew what, rather who, the spirit loved, so he didn't mind avoiding that conversation. Ryo also knew it hurt the spirit to be three minutes away from Marik, but too far away to see or touch him.

"If I told him about you, he would come over. I'm sure of it."

"Don't," Bakura said the word as if it would break his jaw. "It's better for him to forget me. An hour . . . isn't enough."

"I wish you could stay longer."

Marik seemed happy, if not bored, around campus; however, when his gaze accidentally caught Ryo's there was a longing and a grief buried under the lilac of his eyes that broke Ryo's heart to see.

The more Bakura spoke the calmer he seemed, as if finally telling his story allowed some of the old wounds to heal - at least enough to scar.

Ryo sighed, wishing he didn't have to hold salt water in his mouth. He didn't fear Bakura. It was the possibility of other spirits that concerned Ryo . . . one dark entity in particular. They had to be careful never to give Necrophades a chance to slip back into the world. That they played at all was selfishness on Ryo's part - to risk so much for a mere hour of time, but it was all he could do to ease Bakura's suffering, and he'd continue to do so as long as there was magic to do so.

"Why do you even waste all these nights here? Don't you ever go out?"

"I play MMORPGs with my old friends, and I hang out with Yugi and them sometimes."

"Yeah, but don't you ever date?"

Ryo frowned. That was his least favorite topic. "I used to date a lot, but most people just want to sleep with me. I want a relationship, not a bed-buddy, only the people who'd date me are all too nice for my tastes."

Bakura snorted. "I have trouble imagining anyone being too nice for you."

"As a friend? No. But to date I'd want someone to take me out to see a horror film, or who wouldn't be afraid to walk past a graveyard in the middle of the night."

Bakura smirked. "Or help you summon dark spirits from the abyss at 3 am?"

Ryo nodded. The spirit was being sardonic, but Ryo was serious in his answer.

Bakura chuckled, shaking his head. "You're nuts."

Ryo started to reply on his phone, but a text interrupted him. His eyes rounded as he saw Marik's name appear on the screen.

Bakura noticed the change on Ryo's face. "What is it?"

Ryo showed him the message. A simple question, "are you awake?"

Ryo answered, "yes."

Bakura leaned over Ryo's shoulder as they waited for Marik's response.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you, nm."

"Marik tell me." Ryo typed into his phone. He felt Bakura's fingers digging into his shoulders and wondered if Bakura was aware of how hard he gripped.

"I really am awake." He sent the additional text as an afterthought.

It took awhile for Marik to respond. Ryo imagined him struggling between talking or trying to deal with the problem himself.

"It was just nightmares. I was having a panic attack. I'm fine now."

"Liar," Bakura snapped at the phone. "Does he text you often?"

Ryo had to switch over to his convo with Bakura before he could answer. "Only for homework or if Yugi's meeting us somewhere."

"He's upset," Bakura clenched a hand into a fist and closed his eyes. "Dammit."

"Want his apartment number?"

Bakura stared at the message for a long time. "No. Seeing me for twenty-three minutes will only hurt him."

Ryo swapped back to his text messages. "Why don't you come down and drink a cup of tea?"

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

"You'd be doing me a favor. I'm bored."

Bakura crossed his arms over his chest as he read. The shadows hid his face, making him look sinister instead of concerned. "He's so damn stubborn."

After another long pause, Marik's answer came. "All right. See you in five."

"You're staying, right?" Ryo asked Bakura through typing.

Bakura put his hands on Ryo's shoulders.  _"_ I told you, that'd only hurt Marik more. That's why you have to end the game, and don't let him know we ever played."

"But you still love him!"

Bakura clenched his teeth. Hate glinted in his dark eyes as he read Ryo's message – he hated the thought of something as  _vulnerable_  as love. The look in his gaze reminded Ryo of how street lights made broken glass sparkle in an alley. Nevertheless, the emotion was mild, almost endearing, compared to the hate he'd once carried for the Pharaoh, so Ryo pushed further. "Get mad if you want, but you know it's true. You loved him then. You love him now."

Bakura's expression hardened, and for a moment Ryo remembered the spirit who tried to kill his friends, but the image broke and Bakura dropped to his knees on the cool, linoleum floor. "Dammit, Ryo, why do you think I've been avoiding him? Dead is dead. I'm dead. It doesn't matter . . . how I feel."

Ryo spit the water out on Bakura's clothes, knowing Bakura was right about Marik. "There has to be something we can do."

"If you knew a better way to bring me back – you would have done it already."

That was also true. Ryo closed his eyes to help contain his emotions.

"Talking like this is dangerous. Finish the game."

"I'm sorry." Ryo sniffed.

Three, hard knocks echoed from the hallway.

"Ryo," Bakura hissed.

"I win. I win. I win." Ryo poured the water on Bakura's head.

He ran to the door and opened it. "Hey, Marik."

Marik nodded, he had his hair knotted behind him and only wore black sweats and a white hoodie. A duffel bag rested on his shoulder.

"Come in. Sit down. Make yourself at home."

"Okay," he said, eyeing the dim living room like it was closing in on him.

Ryo winced, remembering how much Marik hated the dark. He turned on the overhead light. "Sorry."

"Thanks," Marik muttered, staring at the floor as he stepped into the living room.

"I still need to put the kettle on. Sorry, I'm a bit scatter brained."

"Your t.v. is snowy."

"I dropped the remote. Hit input until it says hdmi 1 and that will fix it."

Marik stared at Ryo. "You weren't really awake, were you?"

"Yes I was."

"The lights are all off."

"I was sitting in the kitchen."

"It's dark in the kitchen."

"I was sitting in the dark."

Marik blinked at Ryo. "Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. I was thinking."

Marik looked hesitant. "Really?"

Ryo smiled at him. "Let me make some tea. Then we'll talk. Please, sit down. I'll only be a moment."

Ryo busied himself in the kitchen. He didn't bother turning the lights on. He knew his apartment and the light reflecting from the living room was all he needed. He set the kettle on the stove and searched his fridge for a snack to serve when Marik's voice made him jump.

"You made this doll look like him." The light from the refrigerator lit Marik's hair a strange, gold color. Ryo watched as Marik picked the doll up off of the floor and traced the features on its face.

"It's dark in here, Marik. Go back to the living room. I'm almost done."

Marik didn't seem to notice the darkness. "Why? Why does this doll look like him?"

"I miss him." Ryo told as much of the truth as he dared. "We were playing an imaginary card game."

"You and the doll? In the dark?"

"I know it's stupid, but I couldn't sleep."

The light hurt Bakura's eyes. That's why they played in the dark. He was a possessed doll and didn't exactly perceive things as he had in Ryo's body.

Marik toyed with the doll's hair. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I have nightmares that's he's in the dark and it scares me. I know they're just dreams, but they still bother me."

It was the truth, and those dreams compelled Ryo to spend five years researching summoning spells and games in order to bring Bakura back – to see if he was okay – although now Ryo knew Bakura wasn't okay. He didn't talk about it, and he acted brave each night Ryo banished him back to the Shadows, but Ryo knew.

Marik pressed the doll against his heart. "That's what woke me tonight. It's always dark. It's cold, but it burns like fire. No, worse, the darkness burns like the knife on my back during my initiation. I can't scream because the dark's in my throat, or see because it's in my eyes." He shook his head. "But it's not Bakura in my dreams – it's me. My other half. I should have . . . never . . ."

Marik broke. His sentence died; his eyes unfocused. He blinked, a lost look in his eyes. They didn't refocus until he noticed the cards on Bakura's side of the table. Marik smirked as he saw the traps and spells and possessed doll cards like Dark Necrofear and Cursed Twin Dolls. Marik's expression morphed from amused to serious and he sat down and picked up Bakura's hand while clutching the doll to his chest. Marik contradicted Dark Necrofear, male instead of female, golden instead of dark, but at the same time that's what the image of him sitting with Bakura's doll made Ryo think of.

Marik's head jerked up. His eyes blazed fever-bright in Ryo's direction. "He was here."

Ryo shut the fridge door, covering them both in deeper shadows. "What do you mean?"

"Fuck you, Ryo. This isn't some Duel Monster tea party you have set up. He was here – playing with you."

"Marik, that's impossible."

"I'm not stupid, Ryo."

"He used to be in my head. I'm just good at imagining his moves."

"I used to be in your head  _and_  his. He was here. I want to talk to him. Bring him back."

"Marik-"

"Now, Ryo!"

"I can't!"

"Please," the plea shook from Marik's lips, a ghost of sound and nothing more. "Please. I . . . I never got to say goodbye."

"Then pray to him, because he's dead." Ryo smeared two tears off of his cheek.

"You used the doll somehow. Didn't you?"

"He doesn't want to see you."

A strangled noise curdled in Marik's throat when Ryo said the words. He stared at the doll. The air conditioner kicked on, and it added an eery depth to the silence between them. Marik cleared his throat. "Too bad, I want to see him."

"Please, don't do this to me," Ryo begged.

"Don't do this to you? Ryo, I . . . I-"

"I know, Marik. I know. But he says an hour isn't enough time."

"Please." Marik shut his eyes. "Let me see him just one more time. Let me say goodbye."

"You couldn't. You have to hold salt water in your mouth. You can't speak."

Marik held the doll tighter to his chest. "That will have to suffice."

Ryo ran his fingers through streamlets of snowy hair. He couldn't take it. The sadness in Marik's face, the sadness in Bakura's face. He couldn't let them stay apart no matter how angry Bakura would be. "It has to be three a.m."

"Then tomorrow night?"

Ryo turned on the kitchen light; he needed the light. The kettle whistled and Ryo poured two cups of tea for himself and Marik. He sat on his spot, staring at Marik as he slid one of the two cups across the stained, maple surface. "Will you follow the rules?"

"Of course."

Ryo shook his head, a headache eating his right temple as he sipped on his tea. "You can't half-ass follow these rules, Marik. You have to follow them to the letter, Marik."

"I will."

Ryo shook his head again. "This isn't a slumber party game. We're summoning Bakura's spirit from the Shadow Realm. It's dangerous. You had the Rod. I had the Ring. If either of us fuck up, we can be possessed by the evil that inhabited the Items. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Marik nodded, his expression calm and calculating much as it'd been during Battle City only older.

"I'll print out the rules. You can memorize them tomorrow before we play. We have to do it here. He's been here before so it'll be easier to catch the right spirit. You can't talk, so write a short letter before we play. I have to be here in case anything goes wrong."

"Thank you, Ryo."

Ryo exhaled. "But if I'm here, I have to play as well. That means I'll need to summon a second spirit for my own game."

"Okay."

"You don't understand. I can't summon a random spirit. It's far too dangerous. I have to call back a specific spirit so Zorc can't possess the doll."

"But the Pharaoh isn't in the Shadow Realm."

"No, he's not. Your other half is though."

Marik paled. "Ryo, that's too dangerous."

Ryo snorted. "He'll be easy to deal with. As long as we keep the salt water in our mouths, the spirits we summon can't hurt us."

"Hurt you? He'll kill you."

"I'm more afraid of what Necrophades would do to me. Your alter ego is a kitten compared to him." Ryo forced a smile on his face. "Don't worry, Marik. It's a game of Hide and Seek. While you're saying goodbye to my other half, I'll be playing a game with your other half."

Doubt flicked behind the purple irises.

Ryo sighed. "I promise I'll be okay as long as you  _follow the rules_."

A hint of smile curved on Marik's lips. "This means a lot to me."

Ryo swished hot tea in his mouth, trying to wash out the salt taste from before. "I can't help it. I'm a hopeless romantic."

Marik looked sheepish, toying with the doll's hair again.

Ryo stood up and took the doll from Marik's hand. "Sorry. We have to burn this one."

"Burn him? Why?"

"Once a doll becomes a vessel, it's easier for other spirits to latch onto it. You have to burn it. We don't have school tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to make replacement dolls for us to use." Ryo stepped away, stopping and looking over his shoulder. "Oh, one more thing – when you play, you have to call the doll by name. I need you to give your other half a name for me to use."

"Me? Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "You created him. Isn't it only proper that you name him?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ***Watching the new episode of ygotas reminded me of why the anime annoys me when compared to the manga. What really ticks me off is how Ryou doesn't steal his Ring back. In the manga, Ryou very deliberately goes into Yugi's room on the blimp (pretending to look for Seto) and then "accidentally" finds the Ring instead. And he's happy to get it back! That's significantly different than him running and screaming into a church and being taken over against his will. I think a lot of the crappy Ryou-as-victim Bakura-as-abuser fics that I hate (hatehatehate) get derived from the anime because of crap like that. Okay, /end rant. Let's meet Yami Marik.***

"Kek."

Ryo tilted his head to the side. His fingers never rested as he stitched black thread into black fabric for Bakura's outfit, taking extra pains to make sure it looked nice. "Is that something you made up?"

"It was one of the old gods, before Ra."

"That's the name I'll use, then."

"Are you sure it's all right? To summon him."

"I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but we're safer with him." Ryo narrowed his eyes at Marik. "You memorized every rule, right?"

Marik nodded.

"And you're going to follow every rule, right?"

Marik's thin eyebrows arched together as he scowled at Ryo. "For the seven-hundredth time, Ryo. Yes. I'll follow the rules."

"It's not dying that frightens me, you know," Ryo muttered as his needle pierced into black. "That's why I'm using your other half. The worst thing he could do is kill me. I'd rather live, but if I had to choose between dying and being possessed again – I'd choose death."

Marik's mouth dropped open. "Was it that bad?"

"With Bakura? No, with Bakura it was . . . complicated. He acted like a filter between Zorc and myself, but this time I wouldn't have that filter, that safety net." Ryo shook his head as if to deny his own fears. "If Zorc came back then so many people would be hurt because of me. I'd rather die. This is why you have to follow every rule. I don't care if me saying it seven hundred and one times annoys you or not."

"I promise."

Ryo continued sewing. He dressed Bakura in all black with silver accessories. He made the Kek doll a little taller and used two whole bags of yellow pipe cleaner instead of yarn for hair. He'd picked dark purple beads for eyes and soft, mocha colored cloth for skin. It was a little darker than Marik's skin, but it was the closest match he could find. Not that it mattered. The game would only last an hour, but Ryo couldn't help but give the same meticulous attention to the second doll as he did the first. It didn't feel fair to do otherwise. For Kek, Ryo made a blood red shirt and replicas of Marik's tomb keeper jewelry. Ryo stared at the doll's innocent, brown back, smoothed his fingers over the material. He almost left it blank, wanted to leave it blank. He didn't know why it mattered for an hour, but it did. Only, Ryo needed to guarantee he called the correct spirit from the void. The scars were part of his soul, his origin, so Ryo couldn't spare them.

"I'm sorry, Marik, but I need to see your back. I've never seen your scars, so I don't know what to stitch."

Marik frowned at the little doll. "Do you have to? I gave those scars to him once already. Let him escape them."

"I thought the same thing, but I'm afraid to ignore something that important. I'm very sorry."

"It's not your fault," Marik whispered as his slid the white t-shirt up over his shoulders.

Ryo winced when he saw the scars. He heard they were beautiful. The designs were beautiful, but the lines were thick, much thicker than Ryo had thought they'd be. Ryo didn't have the heart to embroider the thread that thick into the doll's back, not even for a fake body. He stitched everything correctly, but only with a double line of tan thread. When finished, Ryo looked away and dressed the doll in his red shirt. "Thank you, Marik."

"That stupid asshole Bakura better not bitch at me for the entire hour for all the trouble I'm going through to see him again."

Ryo smiled and set the dolls together in a basket. "You should try to get some sleep so you're not tired tonight."

* * *

When the alarm trilled from the speaker on Marik's cell phone he sat up and rubbed sand out of his eyes. His stomach lurched at the thought of seeing Bakura. He'd tried to write a letter as Ryo suggested, but couldn't think of anything to say. What could he say? All through Battle City he never understood how he felt. It wasn't until the night after the Ceremonial Duel that Marik laid in bed and realized that he'd never see the dark spirit again, and then he'd shoved a pillow over his face so his siblings didn't hear him break down.

Ryo appeared from the hallway. "It's time."

Marik nodded. He forced himself to his feet. They walked to the bathroom, a doll waiting for each of them. Ryo held the brown and yellow doll. "Your name is Kek."

Marik looked at his own doll. "Your name is Bakura."

"Ryo is the first to be it. Ryo is the first to be it. Ryo is the first to be it."

"Does it have to be three times?"

Ryo glared at Marik, and Marik sighed and looked at the doll. "Marik is the first to be it. Marik is the first to be it. Marik is the first to be it."

They drowned the little dolls side by side. Ryo went and hid in the closet, and Marik went into the kitchen. One of the rules Ryo gave him was to stay in the kitchen.

"One."

Marik had to stay in the kitchen because Ryo planned on leading the newly named Kek through the apartment in a dangerous game of hide and seek as Marik said goodbye to Bakura.

"Two."

Marik kept insisting he just wanted to say goodbye although something low and hidden deep in the pit of his belly suspected there wasn't as much truth in the notion as Marik believed.

"Three."

But he couldn't keep playing forever. Marik understood the dangers of the game.

"Four."

And the added risk Ryo took upon himself distracting Marik's own former alter ego.

"Five."

Marik didn't even know how to thank Ryo for that.

"Six."

All the shit he and Bakura put Ryo through during Battle City, and here he was doing everything he could so Marik could see Bakura again.

"Seven."

Although it killed Marik to have to be silent the whole time.

"Eight."

He and Bakura were all words.

"Nine."

The thought of being silent near Bakura terrified Marik more than the darkness in the kitchen, but he wasn't sure why.

"Ten."

Back in the bathroom they pulled the dolls out of the tub, cold and soaked through. Marik stabbed his doll with his switch blade, seven times as Ryo told him to do. "I found you, Bakura."

Marik noticed Ryo only stabbed his doll once, in the chest. "I found you, Kek."

"You're it, Bakura. You're it, Bakura. You're it, Bakura."

"You're it, Kek. You're it, Kek. You're it, Kek."

They separated again. Marik's heart rioted in his chest as he walked back to the kitchen. He filled his mouth with salt water, wincing at the taste of it in his mouth. He gagged on reflex, and he had to brace himself against the table in order to compose himself enough not to spit the water onto the tiled floor. On top of it all, he tried to ignore how dark it was in the kitchen. He'd never been able to shake the old fear. Only the hope of seeing Bakura again kept him stable enough to endure it.

"Marik?"

Marik jerked up at the sound of his name.

Bakura stood in the shadows of the dark kitchen, lit up only by the distant light of the snowy t.v. in the living room, His skin glowed white as a ghost's skin; his hair tossed about his head like a shred of rags. He blinked at Marik with wide eyes the color of cinnamon, a warm, warm, spiced brown almost red in tone.

Marik choked back a sob. He managed to keep the water in his mouth, but that was the only thing he could control about his body. He couldn't stop his legs from running to Bakura. He couldn't prevent his arms from wrapping around the spirit until his biceps strained. He couldn't keep his face from burying itself in Bakura's storm of white hair, or stop his eyes from spilling the aching, hot tears. This was why Marik didn't want silence, without their sarcastic, verbal fencing, Marik's raw emotions bled through, screaming louder than any argument they ever had.

Bakura held Marik. His fingers dug into the wings carved into Marik's shoulders, and his chest heaved as Bakura struggled to breathe.

"Marik," he said again and that time it wasn't a question. "Dammit Ryo."

Marik shook his head in order to defend Ryo. It'd be the perfect time to call Bakura an idiot and blame him for not contacting Marik on his own, but all Marik could do was type on his phone. "He tried his best, but you know I don't take no for an answer."

Bakura snorted, but a soft smile kept toying with the corners of his mouth. He touched Marik's cheek with two finger tips. "Yeah, I know."

He sighed, bringing his and Marik's bodies back together. "You're my only regret," Bakura whispered, and the unfamiliar tenderness in his tone made Marik shiver, and Marik didn't know if it was terror or emotion that made him tremble.

Bakura combed Marik's hair, still whispering. "I regret not saving you. I regret not having more time . . ." his voice broke, and another tear slipped down Marik's cheek because he knew what Bakura would say next. "But you can't, we can't, Marik, we can't."

Marik shook his head, denying Bakura's words.

"You have to end the game."

Marik shook his head again, clutching Bakura tighter in his arms.

A pained, haunted moan escaped Bakura's mouth as Marik pulled him tighter to his chest. Marik felt a give in Bakura's muscles as he sank deeper into the embrace. They didn't speak; they'd only argue about the game if they spoke. Instead, they stood in the dark kitchen and breathed into each other's hair as they held each other.

Marik kept telling himself to say goodbye and end the game – say goodbye and end the game. The rest of the apartment stood silent which was a good sign, it meant Ryo was still hiding, but he couldn't hide forever and Marik needed to stop being selfish and say goodbye and end the game.

But he couldn't move his arms. He knew he only held a doll, but it was still Bakura and Marik didn't want to let go.

"Marik."

Marik exhaled through his nostrils. He stepped back so he could stare at Bakura's face. Bakura touched Marik's cheek again, lifting both of his hands up to trace Marik's lips.

"It's time, Ishtar."

This time Marik nodded yes, but still, he didn't move.

Bakura's hands shook. He pulled away and hoisted the black shirt up over his shoulders, dropping the cloth to the floor. "Look at me." He grabbed Marik's hand and made Marik trace down the length of the red thread sowing his stomach together. "I'm a doll. No, I'm not even that. I'm dead. I died three thousand years ago in Egypt. The me you think you know was just an angry spirit possessing Ryo for revenge. It was his body you liked-"

Marik ripped his hand away and shook his head, angry. He didn't like what Bakura implied. Besides, it wasn't the body, pretty and white though it was. It was the ebb and flow of their conversations, the give and take of their personalities, the attraction and repulsion of their minds. It was a dance only they could do – a rhythm only they understood, close and fierce and perhaps a little lurid but also with a fluid and forgiving grace that made it beautiful.

But even if Marik's mouth wasn't sealed with salt and tap water, how could he ever explain something that real and that true with a mouth experienced in only bitter words and manipulation?

Bakura tangled his fingers in the red knot of thread near his throat. Marik saw that his hand shook as he spoke. "Marik if you don't end this game I will. One tug and all the rice will spill out and I'll be back in the Shadows."

Marik clenched his hands into fists. It'd be goodbye after all. He knew so from the beginning, but that didn't make it hurt less. Marik walked up to Bakura, spitting the water on his shoes and staring at them as he muttered, "I win."

"Marik."

"I win."

Bakura touched Marik's hair a final time. Marik looked up into Bakura's eyes. He meant to say goodbye and end the game, but what came out of his mouth was, "I love you."

He grabbed Bakura and smashed their mouths together. Bakura groaned as if wounded, but returned the kiss. Marik pushed him onto the table and crawled on top of him, devouring Bakura's mouth with hard, brokenhearted kisses until he tasted blood. Marik pulled away. He hadn't been biting so the blood confused him. Bakura panted, his lips fairy-tale red against his pallid skin. Bakura held his chest and stomach, wincing from pain as small threads of red drifted down his sides, only they weren't threads.

Marik touched Bakura's chest. "You're bleeding."

Bakura studied the line down his center, probing the wounds. Both shock and confusion registered on his face as he tried to stand and examine himself. "Marik, what have you done?"

"I don't know." Marik shook his head, as confused as Bakura.

Bakura sucked in a breath and held it, closing his eyes and then exhaling again before raising his lids. He touched his face. Bakura glanced at Marik, his expression unreadable. "I'm not a doll anymore."

* * *

Ryo didn't stay in the closet; he didn't want to be found this time. When the t.v. crackled, announcing the presence of a spirit, Ryo slipped from his hiding space and crawled beside the bed.

A dark, low chuckle violated the silence in the room. "So this is a game?" a scratchy voice, one that sounded raw and unused, asked the room. "Okay, I'll play."

Ryo saw a shadow stretch across the wall, tall and lean with a crown of knives instead of hair.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty." Kek laughed into the room. "Come out. Come out. Wherever you are."

Instead of a tea cup with water, Ryo carried a small, capped bottle filled with salt water. That way, wherever he was when Marik called out to him, he could end the game as quickly as possible. Ryo slipped under his bed, and crawled out the other side as Kek inspected the closet. He glanced over his shoulder, as if he heard something, but Ryo tucked himself behind the bedroom door and stayed unseen.

Kek continued to laugh, happy but manic. "This is fun."

In truth, Ryo agreed. His palms sweated, his heart shivered, and he struggled to keep his breath silent, more so because of the water in his mouth, but that's what made it fun. Ryo crept out of the room and watched in the crack of the half opened door.

Kek checked under the bed and near Ryo's dresser. He stopped to stare at a picture of Ryo, Yugi, and Marik, and then another picture of Ryo and his father at an archaeological dig when Ryo was seven. He set the photographs down and turned to the yarn and cloth and spools of thread Ryo kept in baskets on his dresser. He plucked a pin from the pincushion and jabbed up his arm with the point. His face didn't register any pain. He stuck the pin back into it's place and lifted up his shirt to look at his stomach. Noticing the thread sealing him together, Kek touched it with his fingers.

"I'm a doll," he said.

His face sank into a sad, lonely expression. Ryo wanted to hug him at that moment, but knew better.

Kek snorted. "A temporary distraction from the Shadows is better than nothing. Where are you, my little, white kitten?"

Ryo moved to the guest room. He knew his apartment and crawled without a sound. The extra room only had a bed and some old Monster World dioramas, but Ryo managed to hide under the bed until Kek checked the closet and then hide in the hallway as Kek checked under the bed.

Kek growled when he didn't find Ryo. "I like coy, but this is dull. Wouldn't you rather play another game? For example, I cut you and you see how long you last until you scream."

Ryo rolled his eyes. It hurt not to be able to shout back a sarcastic reply – another bad habit Ryo picked up from having Bakura in his head for so long. Although he knew Kek was only trying to goad him, to scare him into making a mistake and give his location away through heavy breathing or some other kind of noise. Instead, Ryo slipped into the living room for round three of their game.

The living room had myriad places to hide, the couch, the large chair, a computer desk. Ryo heard voices in the kitchen. His mind silently urged Marik to hurry, but Ryo really wanted to play until the last second.

Kek strolled into the living room as if bored. He scowled at the t.v. when it flared up, but his expression shifted to curiosity when he reached the computer desk. He rummaged through Ryo's school books, and played with the action figures sitting on Ryo's desk. Ryo had a small, stuffed bear, something he won at a carnival, and Kek picked it up and nuzzled the top of its soft, fur head. He smelled the bear, or maybe he was trying to catch Ryo's sent like a hound dog during a hunt. Ryo lifted his head up from his sofa hiding spot to watch Kek, fascinated by the odd behavior.

"Hmph, nice place." Kek gave himself a crooked smile as he spoke. He set the bear down and walked to the window, shifting the curtain aside and peeking out the glass. "Windows. We never had windows."

The voices in the kitchen grew louder. Ryo ducked back down as Kek turned his head. He snarled, the sound of a rabid wolf. "Marik."

Kek raced to the kitchen. Ryo unscrewed the cap of his water bottle, preparing to end the game. He chased Kek into the kitchen.

"Bastard! I'll fucking kill you!" Kek screamed.

Bakura put himself between Marik and Kek like a shield, at the same time, Ryo spat the salt water onto Kek's skin. Kek screamed again, in pain, as the salt water sprayed him.

"I win! I win! I win!" Ryo shouted, but as he raised his hand to dump the last of the salt water onto Kek's head and banish him, Kek pivoted to face Ryo and smacked the bottle from Ryo's hand.

Time stopped for a moment as they stared at each other. Kek's lips curled upward, and he licked them with his long, pink tongue.

"Oh shit." Ryo ran out of the kitchen.

Ryo raced out of his apartment door and into the hallway with Kek chasing him.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Ryo dashed down the hall, turning through the maze-like corridors in order to lose Kek. The lights flickered above him as Kek's spiritual energy interfered with the electricity. Ryo's lungs burned as he pushed forward for all his adrenaline was worth. Behind him, Kek growled and cursed. Ryo's side stitched up and sharp pain bit below his ribs. He saw a vending machine and hid between that and a large trash can to catch his breath.

Even breathing through his mouth, Ryo couldn't prevent the wheezing sounds he made as he gasped for air. He prayed Kek would pass him by without seeing him. He prayed to Ra and Osiris, and to Kannon, and to nameless angels, and to the spirits of his mother and sister. Mostly, he prayed to his sister. In life, Amane was a ball of laughter that was the closest thing Ryo ever came to seeing a real angel, but if dark spirits and darker gods existed in the word, there was no reason Ryo couldn't believe that Amane watched over him as well.

A shadow covered Ryo and he curled into a smaller ball. It didn't help. He felt Kek grab his shirt and slam him against the wall.

"You're wrong," Kek growled into Ryo's face, "I win. I win. I win."

"Does that make me it?" Ryo coughed as his feet kicked the air.

"Nice try, and maybe that would have worked – if you didn't hurt me with that salt water." Kek drew his face closer to Ryo, a horrifying idol of anger and bronze. "Do you have any idea how much that salt burned? You will. I'll hurt you back."

"I'm sorry," Ryo said, and he meant it. He didn't want to hurt Kek, only save Marik.

"That doesn't make it hurt less!" He dropped Ryo to the ground and pressed his thumbs into Ryo's windpipe.

Ryo grabbed Kek's hands and thrashed, driven by survival instinct as pain filled his lungs instead of air. Kek's face hovered two centimeters apart from Ryo's as he throttled Ryo. Ryo fought the black darkening his vision.

Something.

Something.

Anything.

He needed to do something or die in a hallway beside a trashcan. Ryo tasted salt in his mouth. He reached a hand out and grabbed Kek's hair to pull their faces together. He pressed his mouth against Kek's mouth, feeling an agonizing heat as the salt clinging to Ryo's lips burned Kek's lips.

Kek cried out and jerked away. Ryo curled into a fetal pose and held his throat as he struggled to catch his breath. Through tear-blurred eyes he watched as Kek paced back and forth, holding his mouth as his own tears filled his purple eyes. He stopped and looked at Ryo, more miserable than angry. "That hurt, you bastard!"

"So does my throat." Ryo's voice sounded bruised as he spoke.

"But I was only going to kill you. I didn't kiss you. I didn't make a kiss hurt." He started pacing again, speaking behind his hand. "Even I dream of being kissed for the first time, and you made it hurt. It should have been good, but it was awful just like everything else." Kek punched the drink machine beside Ryo. The sound of metal bending shocked the entire hallway. Cans of soda and coffee spit out of the machine and rolled to the floor.

"You of all people should know what's it's like to be cornered and want to survive." Ryo pushed himself onto his knees. He felt horrible. Kek tried to kill him, but Ryo felt like he was the asshole because of the unfallen tears lingering in the corners of Kek's eyes.

"I do understand!" Kek marched to the other end of the hall, away from Ryo. "It's just that . . ." He held his stomach, pain ripping his expression apart. "I wanted to pretend I was human during my first kiss. In the Shadows you're always drowning, drowning in cold, drowning in black, drowning and drowning and drowning. I wanted to take one nice thing back with me before I had to drown again." He crashed against the wall and slid to the floor, hands still digging into his gut. "Everything hurts. Send me back. I'd rather drown than feel this kind of pain."

"I'm sorry." Ryo pushed the tears off of his cheeks as he cried for Kek. "I'm sorry."

Burdened by their own weight, the tears finally splashed down Kek's copper cheeks. "It's my fault for strangling you."

Ryo crawled towards Kek, grabbing a can of coffee as he inched his way across the hall. He opened the can and offered it to Kek. "Here. Drink some of it."

Kek shook his head.

"It will wash the salt from your mouth."

"Forget it. Just send me back."

Ryo poured some of the drink over his index and mid fingers. He reached out towards Kek.

Kek flinched.

"I'm done hurting you. I promise," Ryo whispered as he dabbed his fingers over Kek's lips.

Kek sighed, parting his lips so Ryo could paint them with coffee.

"Does that feel better?"

Kek nodded, unable to speak with Ryo's fingers touching his mouth. He flicked out his tongue, licking his lips clean and then pulling Ryo's fingers in his mouth to suck on them.

"Oh." Ryo gasped as he watched Kek's mouth.

Kek stared at Ryo as he sucked on Ryo's fingers. His eyes flickered with the overhead lights.

"Tastes good," Kek said.

Ryo felt his face flush as he continued to watch. He'd never seen anything so attractive before.

Kek pulled his mouth away. "I saw your picture on the dresser. I decided if I found you, I would kiss you before you had a chance to banish me."

Ryo blinked. "Why would you want to kiss me?"

"You're cute when that fucking thief isn't messing up your face."

Ryo couldn't help but smile at the insult/complement combo.

"I thought it'd be nice . . . to kiss you in front of the window. I'd close my eyes, and pretend it was any other day, and pretend I was real and not an echo drowning in darkness." He snorted. "I'm such a fucking idiot."

"I . . . never . . . expected . . ."

Kek snorted again. "That evil spirits ever thought of trivial things?"

Ryo brushed his fingers along Kek's cheek. "I don't think it's trivial at all."

"It wouldn't have worked, anyway. You had the saltwater in your mouth the whole time."

Ryo touched his own lips, feeling guilty again for ruining Kek's first kiss.

Kek grabbed Ryo's hand and pulled it away from his lips. "Stop looking like you feel bad."

"I do feel bad."

"You did what you did to survive. I would have done the same."

"Still, I wish it could have gone differently."

"Yeah . . ." Kek stared at Ryo's hand, still clutched in his own.

Ryo drank the rest of the coffee in his other hand. He licked his lips until the taste of salt vanished and swished the drink in his mouth to guarantee that coffee instead of salt remained. Ryo moved closer to Kek's face, stopping three centimeters away. "Do you still want a kiss?"

"What?" Kek sounded out of breath as he asked the question.

"I washed the salt out of my mouth."

Kek growled and looked away. "I don't want your pity. Fucking banish me already."

"No." Ryo shook his head. "It's not pity. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun – except the part where I thought I was going to die. I hated that, but playing hide and seek was fun." Ryo blushed. "It was kinda like a blind date."

Kek laughed. "You're crazier than me."

Ryo smiled.

Kek's laughter got lost in his throat as he looked up at Ryo's smile. He closed his eyes.

Ryo tested his lips against Kek's. "Did that hurt?"

"No."

He traced Kek's bottom lip with his tongue. "That?"

"No."

"Good. I wanted to make sure."

He sank his lips into Kek's. Their mouths tasted like sugar and coffee and Ryo drank in the sensation on his tongue. They pulled apart, gasping and then clashing back together, but they kept their lips soft against one another's, timid, exploring the way their mouths worked together.

"Yes," Kek moaned in Ryo's mouth in between rounds of kisses. "Yes. Like that."

Kek's words made Ryo's jaw tremble. "Mmmm, Kek."

He pulled at Kek's lips, occasionally breaking to kiss Kek's nose, or cheek, or temple.

"Like that. Kiss me like that, Ryo."

Ryo'd been on many dates and kissed many mouths, boys and girls alike, but nothing compared to that moment. Never had he felt a desperate, throbbing  _need_  to kiss or be kissed. They kissed better than most people made love, though Ryo had no experience beyond kissing. He never cared enough to go beyond kissing, but a raw, searing, desire raked through him at that moment. He tugged at Kek's shirt, forcing himself to keep control and not remove Kek's clothes or lay him down in the hallway then and there. Soon, other tenets would walk down the hall on their way to work, but Ryo couldn't stop sucking on Kek's sweet, thick lips.

A small whine rose up from Kek's throat. Ryo thought it was a wanting sound at first, but Kek pulled away and held his belly. "My stomach hurts again."

"Again?" Ryo shook his head, trying to restore order and reason to his thoughts.

"Earlier it hurt down here." Kek touched below his belt-line. "Now it hurts here." He rested his other hand above the first.

"You shouldn't hurt . . ." Ryo lifted up Kek's shirt. "You're bleeding. How are you bleeding?" He pulled the shirt up higher. Most of the thread was harmless thread in cloth, but the lowest segment, from his navel down, was stitching holding together a bleeding gash. "We have to get you back to my apartment."

Ryo stood up and slung Kek's arm around his shoulder. "I need to clean the wound and seal it up better."

"Is it from the salt?"

"No. It shouldn't be from that. I . . ." Ryo thought a moment as they neared his apartment. "I don't know how, but I'm pretty sure you're partly alive."

"Is that even possible?"

"Apparently it's possible. You should be filled with rice, but you're bleeding, so . . ."

"If I become human, does that mean I get to stay here? Out of the Shadows?"

Ryo sighed. "Honestly, I wouldn't know how to send you back even if I wanted to. You interrupted the closing ritual when you knocked the water out of my hand."

They stepped back into the apartment. Ryo couldn't see Marik or Bakura anywhere. "Hey Bakura? Marik?" Ryo called, but only the whir of the air conditioner responded. "They're probably looking for me." He sighed and lead Kek to the bathroom.

The tub sat filled with cold water. The drip . . . drip . . . drip . . . interrupted the quiet of the room. Ryo stripped Kek's shirt from his waist and found the first aid kit. He started cleaning the cut at the navel and traveled down. Ryo averted his eyes for a moment. "I, uh, need to clean a little lower. Could you unbutton your pants?"

Kek looked oddly bashful. "You." He cleared his throat. "Didn't give me underwear."

"Sorry. I've never had to think that far through before."

"Just warning you." Kek undid his pants and lowered them part-way.

Ryo noticed the tuff of hair peeking out from Kek's pants, as gold and wiry as the hair on his head, but Ryo forced his attention on cleaning the wound. "I'm going to have to stitch it better. I'm sorry, but this will hurt."

Kek snorted. "I don't mind pain. I just don't like it when I'm being kissed."

Ryo muttered another apology and Kek snorted it away from the conversation. Instead, Ryo worked on treating the gash with iodine and re-sowing the wound. Afterward, Ryo bandaged Kek's belly with gauze and medical tape. "Okay. Now it won't get infected. Stay here. I'll find something more comfortable for you to wear.

Ryo went into his room and found an over-sized t-shirt with his college initials, and a pair of boxer shorts too big for him. He went back into the bathroom and gave Kek the clothes. "These will work for tonight."

"Tonight?"

Ryo shrugged. "Well. I can't just kick you out in the street, so I guess you're spending the night."

He grinned, mischievous and wild. "You said this was like a blind date. Are we still on a date?"

Ryo's cheeks shifted from ivory to rose quartz. He paused for a moment before answering. "Why not? My life really can't get much crazier than it is at this moment. Why not make this an official date?"

"Good." Kek dropped the clothes and grabbed Ryo, dragging Ryo to him and kissing him again.

His pants still hung loose around his copper hips, fly down and showing the full length of the rectus abdominis muscle. Ryo moaned, planting his hands on Kek's shoulders to prevent them from wandering.

He allowed their mouths to linger for a moment before pulling away. "I can't just kiss you in a bathroom. That is not a date."

"But it is fun."

Ryo pursed his lips. "You better up your game if you want a second date."

Kek raised an eyebrow. "That's an option?" He leaned against the door frame with a sultry smirk on his face. "What about boyfriend negotiations?"

Ryo stared for a moment, noticing how all his muscles seemed to curve in a downward direction like a profane treasure map. The pink of Ryo's cheeks darkened to mauve and he turned his head. "Get a job and then we'll talk about going steady."

Kek pretended to pout, but the expression was more predatory than meek. "You're so mean."

"Change." Ryo went into his room and changed into his own pajamas.

The clock on his nightstand read 5:14 a.m. Ryo's eyes burned. He rubbed them and went to the living room. Kek sat down beside him, poking at the area of his belly where the cut ended and the thread began.

Ryo watched him. "Bakura said the doll's body dulled all his senses."

Kek nodded. "Yeah, but it's better now that I'm partly real."

"Huh, I wonder what else will make you more human?"

"More kissing."

Ryo raised a white eyebrow. "That seems a little too convenient."

"We won't know unless we try."

Ryo laughed. He bit his lip, pretending to think. "Well . . . for the sake of science and paranormal research."

Kek pushed Ryo down on the couch. Ryo giggled, making it hard for Kek to kiss him.

Kek frowned and brushed his fingers over Ryo's throat. "You're bruising."

Ryo nodded. "Because I'm so pale, bruises show up easily."

"I . . . I'm . . ."

Ryo smiled as he watched Kek try to figure out how to apologize. Ryo lifted his pinky finger into the air. "Let's make a pact."

"What?"

"Pinky swear, never to hurt each other again. No salt water, no choking, we play nice from now on."

Kek rolled his eyes, but he also hooked his finger with Ryo's and shook it. "This . . . is the first time I've ever regretted hurting someone." As soon as he said the words, he winced in pain. "That was quicker than I thought."

Ryo raised Kek's shirt and watched as two centimeters of thread melted into fresh-wounded skin. "That's . . . creepy – and awesome."

"It fucking hurts worse than when I got my scars." He panted until the fit passed him. "Fuck."

Ryo squeezed Kek's shoulder to offer support, unable to do anything else for him. "I think the more you feel human – experience different parts of humanity – the more you'll become a living person instead of a doll."

Kek shook his head. "How do I do that? Feel human?"

Ryo shrugged. "I don't know."

"How do you feel human?"

"I . . . just am. I've never thought about it."

Kek sighed in frustration. "Probably with kissing." He bent down and kissed the bruises on Ryo's throat. His lips as heavy as feathers on Ryo's skin.

Ryo giggled again. "I need to bandage the new segment."

"Just one more kiss."

Kek lied when he said one. His kisses traveled from Ryo's throat to his mouth again. They were only able to enjoy it for a minute before they heard Bakura screaming at them.

"What the fuck are you doing!"

At the sound of Bakura's voice, Ryo pushed Kek off of him and sat up school-boy straight. "Oh good, you're back. I was getting worried about you both."

"Worried about us? We thought you were dead!" Bakura continued to scream. "And then we find you here sucking face with the maniac we thought murdered you? What the dark, unholy fuck, Ryo?"

"Don't yell at him," Kek snapped at Bakura.

Bakura glared at Kek. "You get away from him."

"Fuck you, we're on a date."

"Like fuck you are. I said get away from Ryo right now."

"Bakura, stop it," Ryo said before Kek could retort.

"Ryo," Marik choked on the single word. He looked sick. Sweat glossed over his skin making it look like wet clay. "You can't – he's dangerous."

"Remember your dream about the darkness? Marik, you regretted sending him away and now – for better or worse – they're both back." Ryo looked at Bakura. "Right? You're not cloth and thread anymore, are you?"

Bakura raised his shirt to show Ryo the scabbed and bloody line running up his torso.

Ryo nodded.

"But . . ." Marik whispered, his eyes wide and feral and he glared at Kek. "He killed—"

"–he deserved what I did!" Kek screamed the words as if he'd held them in his throat for too many years.

"No. He was a victim of tradition."

"That's Ishizu talking and you know it! He wasn't a victim – he was crazy! He was going to kill us."

"He wouldn't!"

"Yes, he would!" Kek jumped over the back of the couch so he could stand in front of Marik.

Bakura stood in the way again, but Kek didn't attack, only stared at them.

Marik ground his teeth, his jaw tight. "I hate you!"

"You hate him! You hate our father! Goddammit, Marik remember what happened! I'm tired of carrying it by myself. It's your memory as much as mine."

Ryo curled on the couch and hugged a throw cushion to his chest as the other two fought. Bakura stood with clenched fists, ready to protect Marik and fight Kek if he charged.

Marik curled his fingers into his palms. "I've already heard what happened."

"You heard it from Ishizu. She remembers what she wants to. You need to remember for yourself."

Marik turned away, shaking his head. "No, no, I can't remember."

"We went outside."

"Shut up! You're not even real. Go back to the Shadows where I sent you."

"When you went back underground, you couldn't find Rishid."

"I said shut up!"

"And when you did he was covered in blood."

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up!"

"And father held a knife!" Kek screamed louder so Marik couldn't drown out his voice.

Marik sunk to his knees, crushing his eyes shut and shaking his head to deny everything.

"He said he was going to teach us a lesson. He was going to cut us again!"

Marik covered his mouth with the palm and screamed into his hand. Sobs wracked his chest. "So I got the Rod and cut him instead! I gave him a blood ritual like mine. I hurt him to get him back for all the times he hurt me!"

Kek dropped to his knees as well, a mirrored image of Marik from the clenched fists to the tears raining down his cheeks. "Yes. We hurt him because he hurt us, and he  _deserved_  it."

"No." Marik punched the carpet. "He didn't. It was wrong."

"It was wrong." Kek echoed. "It was wrong for father to have a knife. We were a child, and he was grown. He was suppose to protect us, not hurt us."

Marik sobbed harder, dropping his face into the carpet. Bakura reached down, but Marik smacked his hand away. Ryo smeared his tears into his pillow and stood up. He grabbed Bakura's hand and pulled him to the bathroom to give Marik and Kek a moment alone.

"Christ," Bakura muttered once they had the bathroom door shut.

Ryo dried his tears again on a towel. He went to the bathtub and pulled the plug, drying his hands and eyes a third time, before he opened the first aid kit.

Bakura took off his shirt, rinsing a wash cloth and cleaning the dried blood from his skin. "Your neck is bruised."

"Can I pass them off as hickeys?" Ryo attempted to tease, but there was no joy in his face.

"Some of your idiot friends would fall for that, but I know fingerprints when I see them."

Ryo sighed as he stitched Bakura's skin tighter. The line barely dipped below Bakura's navel, so Ryo didn't have to have Bakura unbutton his pants.

"You heard him. He stabbed his father because his father stabbed him first. That's how Marik made his alter-ego to be. When he was still a doll, he was still in that mode, so when I spit the saltwater on him, he reacted by reflecting that pain back on me. It was a reflex more than a choice."

"How'd you make him stop?"

Ryo gave Bakura another sad smile. "I kissed him. The salt was still on my lips so I knew it'd hurt. I can tell by the burns on your lips that you know how much it hurt." Ryo shook his head. "It worked, he let go, but afterward he was so sad. I've never felt so bad for doing something before in my life, Bakura."

"I still don't understand how that turned into you two making out on the couch. I mean, I know you said you didn't want a nice guy, but sweet, resurrected Osiris, Ryo, Marik's alter ego?"

"His name's Kek now. He's not an alter ego anymore, more like Marik's twin."

"Are you dodging the question?"

Ryo looked up at Bakura, almost done stitching Bakura's chest. "He's funny."

"Yes. I'm sure you laughed your ass off when he gave you those bruises."

"That was before he could bleed. He wouldn't hurt me now. It's not like some abusive boyfriend that apologizes and then hits you again a week later. He's gone through a  _metaphysical_  change, Bakura. He's  _chosen_  to become human – not a shadow, not a repressed bit of damaged psyche – a  _person_."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. A peevish look twisted his features. "Would you bet your life on that? Because if you don't find a way to send him back to the Shadow Realm, that's exactly what you'll be doing."

"Then that's exactly what I'll be doing because neither you nor him are going back to those horrible Shadows ever again."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ***Disclaimer - Thiefshipping lemon for the second half of the chapter.***

A gentle rap on the door interrupted their conversation. Ryo opened the door and saw Kek holding his stomach as red seeped through his t-shirt.

"I don't want to be human anymore." He looked sick and pale, except his eyes that glowed bright as dawn.

"Kek, you're bleeding a lot. Lay down." Ryo pulled Kek into the bathroom and situated him on the bathmat and pressed a towel to the spot where most of the blood leaked out.

Bakura sat on the counter to stay out of the way. Ryo suspected that Bakura remained because he didn't want to see Marik yet.

"I got sick on your carpet."

"That doesn't matter. It's fine." Ryo worked on treating Kek's laceration.

"He's only half alive," Bakura said, staring at the top half of Kek's chest still sown with thread.

"Not that I know how this works, but since you were born human it makes sense you changed into a living body all at once. I think Kek's . . . still getting used to it. This is the forth time he's bled tonight," Ryo confessed, looking up at Bakura with carob colored eyes.

Bakura stayed silent in thought, and Ryo concentrated on sewing and bandaging.

"He hugged me," Kek whispered.

Ryo blinked. "Marik?"

"Yeah, after I got sick, and then we cried. Humans are so damn weak. I don't want to be weak. I don't want . . . to need hugs."

"But deep down you want it all the same. Otherwise, you wouldn't be bleeding more."

"I liked it better when it was kissing."

"It takes all kinds of experiences to be human – good and bad."

"I know bad experiences, this was . . . something in between. I never knew you could feel more than one emotion at once."

Ryo rested a hand and Kek's stomach to comfort him. "It's usually like that."

"Too many." Kek squeezed his eyes shut tight. "There's too many things to feel to have to deal with them all at once."

"Shit," Bakura muttered the curse under his breath. "He really has changed, hasn't he?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not right here, asshole."

"You've changed, too," Ryo said to Bakura. "Without the Ring."

Bakura shook his head. "Put the Pharaoh in front of me and I'd show you I haven't changed much. I'd do it all over again for another shot to destroy him, but that chance is gone and there's nothing I can do about it."

"But wasn't it Akhnadin that really burned your village?"

"Pharaoh is god in the eyes of his people."

Ryo nodded; he understood. He turned back to Kek. "All done. You'll be sore, though."

"Ryo?" Kek sat up, somewhat recovered from the onslaught of emotions. "Why can I feel more of my back than I used to?"

"Each time you become a little more real, you should feel more."

"No, I mean I feel more now than when I was in Marik's body." Kek reached behind him, trying to feel as much of his back as his fingers could reach.

"Your scars are smaller," Bakura said.

Kek stood up, wincing as he moved, and looked over his shoulder in the mirror. The scars formed the same pattern, but where Marik's rose thick above his skin, Kek's were almost invisible.

Ryo stared at the bathmat. "Marik didn't think it was right to make you have scars if you didn't have to, but I was afraid leaving your back plain would make it harder for your spirit to inhabit the doll. I sewed them in, but just enough for them to show. I didn't have the heart to make them as bad as Marik's."

"Even though I was a doll?"

Ryo nodded.

"Even though you were going to banish me?"

Ryo nodded again, looking up at Kek.

"Why did you care?"

"He always cares," Bakura answered for Ryo. "You should have figured that out by now."

"Why are you still here?" Kek glared at Bakura. "Go away."

Unlike Kek, Bakura's face didn't register any emotion as he stared at the bathroom door. "Has Marik calmed down?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm not Marik anymore, so I don't know."

"Kek." Ryo placed a hand on Kek's shoulder to distract the developing argument. "Go into my room and find another shirt that fits. There should be some in the dresser."

Ryo went back into the living room to find Marik. He didn't see him, but he heard noise in the kitchen so he followed the sounds. Marik had the kettle on the stove; he stared at it lost in thought.

"Hey," Ryo said.

"Hey. Don't worry, I already cleaned up Kek's mess."

"You didn't have to. I could have done it."

"No." Marik shook his head. "It felt like my responsibility." He offered Ryo a tired, vacant smile. "I didn't follow any of your rules."

"No, you sure didn't. Not that I'm not glad that they're here." Ryo sighed. "But it's going to be a nightmare trying to purify my apartment tomorrow."

"Need my help?"

"No offense, Marik, but you're not exactly skilled at white magic." Ryo thought for a moment. "Actually, there is one thing you can do. Come back here in the evening and take Kek shopping for some basic things. Clothes, a toothbrush, underwear, that kind of thing."

"Yeah, I guess they'll both need stuff." Marik's face twisted in an odd expression Ryo couldn't read. He went to the stove and poured hot water into two tea cups, bringing both himself and Ryo a cup of tea. "I guess he'll have to sleep on my couch."

Ryo frowned. "Why would you make Bakura sleep on the couch?"

"What? No, not Bakura – I meant Kek."

"Oh." Ryo laughed. "Don't worry about it. He can sleep in my guest room."

Marik set his cup on the table. "Like I said, he's my responsibility. It's my fault they're back."

"But your apartment is smaller, and I really don't mind."

Marik shook his head.

Bakura walked into the kitchen. "Let him stay here, Marik. I don't want him free-loading at our place."

" _Our_  place? When did it become  _ours_?"

Bakura sat on the table next to Marik, stealing the tea cup from Marik's hand and taking a long draw of the steaming liquid. "When you wretched me into the physical world – that's when it became ours."

"And when did my tea become communal property?"

Bakura smirked and took another swig before handing it back. "When you wretched me into the physical world. Everything you have is now ours."

"I didn't agree to that."

Ryo smiled. "Then you shouldn't have fallen in love with a thief."

Marik snorted, finishing the tea before Bakura had a chance to steal it again.

A loud yawn made Ryo realize how tired he was. "Okay. Even with us breaching the Shadow Realm and pulling them out permanently, as far as I can tell my apartment is fine. I'll purify it tomorrow to be safe. I think we got lucky." Ryo yawned again. "But I'm about to fall asleep."

Bakura shook his head and scowled. "You have a god's luck, Ishtar. That stupid little stunt you pulled could have brought Necrophades straight into Ryo's kitchen."

"You weren't complaining when I had you on the table."

"On the table?" Ryo whined. "That's gross. I eat on this table."

Bakura chuckled.

Marik stood and frowned at Bakura. "Shut-up and let's go."

Bakura flicked his hair off of his shoulder with a shake of his head. "What? You're not going to carry me bridal style across the threshold?"

"I'll send you back to the Shadows if you don't hurry up." Marik walked out of the kitchen.

Bakura and Ryo followed him. Bakura rested a hand on the jut of his hip. "An idle threat. You ruined your one and only chance to ever be rid of me."

Ryo caught the smile that brightened Marik's face at the thought. At the same time he also spied Kek asleep on the sofa and cocooned in Ryo's fleece throw.

Ryo smiled himself. "See? You guys don't have to worry about me. Look at him."

Bakura and Marik each made their own dismissive sound at Ryo's statement. Bakura flicked one of Marik's gold earrings. "I'm starving, Ishtar, take me home and make me breakfast."

"Like I cook. There are take-out menus on the fridge."

"Night, you two." Ryo waved.

Marik nodded at him. "Thanks, Ryo."

"Thanks for opening the gate to the underworld so you can get your true love out of the Shadows? Yeah, anytime."

"Don't make me sound like a princess."

Ryo laughed. "I should have put you in a pink dress. That would have been hilarious."

Marik laughed with Ryo. Bakura scowled. "Whatever. I'm out of here. I'm coming back for my cards later tonight." He went towards the front door.

"Wait for me, idiot. You don't even know which apartment is mine."

Ryo locked the door behind them. He dragged his feet to the couch and knelt in front of Kek. Ryo's hand moved on its own and smoothed the stray hairs out of Kek's face. He wanted to stay there, watch Kek sleep, but his eyes kept dropping closed and Ryo knew he needed to get to his own room. He leaned forward and gave Kek's lips a final kiss before he stumbled to his own bed as fell asleep as soon as he landed.

* * *

They argued down the hall, and in the elevator, and straight to Marik's door. Once inside, Bakura took a look around. A black, leather living room set rested on a large rug, fresh flowers sat in crystal vases, and Bakura suspected that the artwork on the walls were originals instead of prints. "You are such a pretentious asshole."

"What?"

"This place looks like it belongs to a mob boss."

"I was a mob boss. Remember, I ran the Ghouls."

"Yeah, but you're suppose to be a college student now. Hang up a poster, buy something from a thrift store. Be normal."

"Mmm-hmm. Tell me, when you were a thief, did you wear simple flax-cloth or dyed linens? That little figurine Ryo's kept all these years has a scarlet cloak."

"I bet your life is boring. Anyone that lives in an apartment this clean is boring."

"My life suits me well enough."

Bakura snorted and went to the fridge. "You weren't kidding. There's no food in here."

Marik smirked. "At least there's vodka."

"In a glass skull, no less. I can't say that you're not a man of priorities." Bakura reached into the fridge and pulled out a paper take-out carton. He sniffed the noodles inside.

"Probably shouldn't. I don't remember when I bought that."

Bakura frowned and sniffed the noodles a second time, tilting the carton left and then right as if scrying whether or not the food was still edible. "I don't see any mold."

"I'm not driving you to the hospital if you eat that and get sick."

"Maybe if I drank some vodka with it the alcohol would kill the bacteria." Bakura still held the noodles, but checked Marik's cupboards. A bag of rice hid in the corner under a layer of dust next to a tub of yam-yam. Bakura set the carton of noodles on the counter in exchange for the yam-yam.

"Oh yeah, I forgot I had that. Yugi gave that to me the last time we studied."

"Whatever, I'm too tired to be picky." Bakura put the noodles in the waste bin and opened the container of yam-yam. "Gonna give me a tour?"

"You've already seen half the apartment." Marik walked out of the kitchen and down a short hall. "There's the bathroom." He pointed, going into the other room across from the bathroom. "And here's the bedroom."

Bakura chuckled. "Even your bed looks pretentious. You really have the aesthetic values of a psychopath, Marik."

The bed was a four-post canopy carved out of teak with thick, violet curtains hanging from the top railing.

"Tease me now, but when I'm fucking you on that leather sofa you're going to appreciate my psychopathic taste in furniture."

Bakura gave Marik an evil smirk before diving through the curtains and flopping on the bed. He looked up and laughed, holding his stomach to keep his stitches from tearing. "Holy shit, you have mirrors. Really Marik?"

Marik stood outside of the curtains. Bakura watched his silhouette strip out of its clothes.

"What? They came with the bed. How do you like the sheets?"

Bakura slipped his hand under the comforter and purred as his hand glided over smooth, cool, satin.

Marik slipped through the curtains, naked, a statue carved from amber. "How do you like my pretentious bed now?"

Bakura's eyes traveled up and then down Marik's body. "I should have known you were the type of asshole that likes watching himself jerk off while laying in a pile of satin and goose-down."

"Flax cloth and stone were the only two textures I ever knew as a child, and there were no mirrors or flowers, only oil lamps and torches." Marik looked up at the mirrors, watching his reflection look back as a second Bakura stared from the side. "It was so dark, and the scent of death in the tomb was so old that it didn't even smell of death anymore, just dust and spices."

"Flax cloth and sand. My village smelled like smoke, even years later, the stench never quite left."

Marik crawled to Bakura's half of the bed. He helped Bakura out of his blood-stained shirt and traced the bandages up his marble chest. Bakura shuddered.

"Does it hurt?"

"Don't stop." Bakura stared at Marik. "When I was a doll everything felt like cotton. When I was in the Ring everything felt like gold." Bakura closed his eyes for a moment, savoring Marik's touch against his skin before he re-opened them. "I haven't felt real for over three thousand years . . . not until tonight."

Marik swung his leg over Bakura, straddling him. His fingers lingered over pale flesh. "I bet the legendary King of Thieves had a lot of lovers in his day. Any peculiarity scandalous stories?"

A single, dry laugh huffed out of Bakura's nostrils. "You'd be disappointed."

"You must have a few stories to tell."

"One."

"One?"

"Yes, one. It was a week before I attacked the palace. I knew things might not go according to plan, so I found a whore and gave her some gold."

"Her? Didn't think you were into hers."

"I'm not, but back then I'd never thought of it before. I trained my  _ka_  and planned my revenge. The thought of being with anyone, male or female, never crossed my mind. So when it came time for it, I went for the default setting."

"Was it any good?"

Bakura shrugged, tilting his gaze away so he didn't have to look at Marik and mentally cursing Ryo for making him used to telling stories of his life. The tale tumbled out of his mouth without him having to think about it, as if reliving it. "She laid naked on the bed and I looked down at her, waiting to feel something, some stirring, some instinct, but nothing happened. She was beautiful, but I had no yearning for her. She thought I was nervous, so she pulled me down on the bed and rolled on top of me."

"Yes, I imagine a whore wouldn't be bashful."

"Not bashful at all, but she was so . . . soft, I hated it. I tried to push her away and then she told me to close my eyes." Bakura snorted a single laugh through his nose at the memory. "I don't know why I listened to her. I just wanted her to leave so I could touch myself at that point, but I closed my eyes and she used her mouth. She knew what she was doing. Her mouth was wet and hot, and I'd never been touched by anyone else, so I ended up finishing after all. When it was all over, I ended up sharing my dinner with her and we sat there and complained about how those in the palace fattened themselves off of the sweat of the common people. I think she hated the Pharaoh as much as I did. I saw it in her eyes. She was bitter and damaged like me. Our lifestyles were a necessity, a way to survive in a kingdom falling apart."

Marik never stopped caressing Bakura as he listened to him speak. "I'm really not any better off than you. I've given a few hand jobs, gotten a few blow jobs, at least they were with men. I tried to date, but . . . everyone pisses me off."

Bakura chuckled. He shifted on his elbows in order to be closer to Marik's face. "How tired are you?"

Marik smirked. "Not that tired, I suppose."

Bakura raised a white eyebrow. Marik's smirk faltered into a smile before he bent down and kissed Bakura. They kissed like they argued, back and forth in quick pizzicato – a gasp of breath, a pluck of lips, moans resonating like notes in the air. Marik sang out when Bakura grabbed his shaft. He bucked into Bakura's hands, pausing as a shudder wracked his body.

Marik grabbed Bakura's wrist to stop his ministrations. "That's too good."

"Oh?" Bakura looked pleased.

Marik reached over Bakura and to the low headboard. He yanked open a small cupboard and pulled out a bottle of lubrication. Bakura watched Marik in the mirrors as Marik slid his fingers in and out of Bakura's body. When Marik entered him, it felt like a volcano erupting inside him. Bakura couldn't control his moans as Marik moved, nor could he prevent his fingers from reaching out and touching Marik's face, or chest, or the gold adorning his neck and wrists.

Bakura licked his lips, they burned from the salt of Marik's first kisses, the ones that pulled him from the Shadow Realm and delivered him moaning and gasping into life in Ryo's kitchen. He could tell Marik held back, circling his hips slow and keeping his body weight well off of Bakura's bandages. The gentle treatment infuriated Bakura, but he endured it because he knew that damaging his chest anymore would mean a trip to the hospital. Marik's expression mimed his movements, soft and tender but with a great swell of yearning threatening to break through and overtake him.

"Bakura," Marik whispered as he moved.

"Mmmm," Bakura tried to echo Marik's name back to him, but couldn't manage even a single syllable.

"Bakura!" Marik shouted.

Bakura hooked his legs and arms around Marik's body, bringing them closer though Marik tried to stay back and be gentle.

"Oh! Ohh! Bakura!"

"Marik!" He succeeded in calling out Marik's name at last.

It was the final piece Marik needed to complete the moment. He jerked and trembled, and Bakura felt warmth flowing inside of him. They lay together for a moment, breathing hard. Their eyes happened to meet and they started laughing, low and wicked and first, but their laughter grew into a roaring noise, as if they'd finally managed to win every game they'd ever lost and defeat every foe that had ever plagued them. Bakura moaned as Marik slipped out of him and dropped low to kiss down Bakura's chest.

Marik pressed his lips on one side and then the other, alternating on each side of his bandaged center. He meandered down to Bakura's belly, eyes looking up. "Let's see if I can do better than a woman."

Bakura's fingers twitched when Marik's mouth swallowed his cock. He clawed at the violet, satin sheets but couldn't find purchase. The contrast of sleek satin below him, and Marik's burning, wet mouth around him made Bakura scream needy ahhh's at the mirrors above them. In the reflection, Bakura watched Marik's golden, angelic hair bob up and down as he continued to suck. Marik's scars gleamed with sweat, making them look enchanted with unfamiliar magic.

Bakura's hips jerked forward on their own, slow and graceful at first but building into desperate short thrusts until he came hard into Marik's mouth as Marik swallowed.

"That was fun," Marik whispered afterward. He crawled up the bed, a golden sphinx, and settled next to Bakura.

Bakura watched their replicas in the mirrors above. "This bed is pretentious, but I do like the mirrors."

"I should have known you'd be the type of asshole that liked watching himself get sucked off in a pile of satin and goose-down."

Bakura noticed the light behind the curtains surrounding the bed. "You left the light on."

". . . yes, I did."

The tremor in Marik's words made Bakura realize he shouldn't have mentioned it. He teased the gold choker at Marik's throat. "You should leave it on. I think I've had enough darkness for awhile."

Marik looked grateful and relieved. Bakura didn't think Marik realized how much he meant the words.


	6. Chapter 6

Dark forced its way inside Bakura, violating his spirit as it poured into his eyes and ears and nostrils. The Shadows pried open Bakura's mouth and wrenched down Bakura's throat. He choked on the dark. He thrashed his limbs in a vain hope of breaking free, but the oppressive black around him didn't give. Only the scorched, renting carmine of Zorc's eyes broke through the black, and in them, Bakura saw the end of everything.

His screams woke him. Marik pinned Bakura's shoulders into the mattress. "Bakura, stay still. You're going to rip your stitches."

Bakura pushed Marik away so he could sit up. "Dammit, Marik, let me up. I have to go check on them."

"Who?"

"Ryo and whatever-you-named-him."

"Why?"

"I just . . ." Bakura blinked. His dream faded from his mind as he fully woke. His heart still raged in his chest from the night-terror. "I was sure Zorc came back. . ."

"Were you dreaming about the Shadow Realm?"

"Yeah. I guess."

Marik frowned. "I've had that dream through Kek's eyes. That's what it was like when you were in the Shadows, wasn't it? Always suffocating in the dark?"

Bakura stared at his hands and nodded.

Marik wrapped his arms around Bakura. They didn't speak, merely sat together for a moment. Bakura broke the silence. "I'm still going over there to steal my cards and raid Ryo's refrigerator."

"Yeah, and I promised Ryo I'd take Kek clothes shopping with us."

Bakura rubbed his temple. "Marik, did you just hear yourself speak?"

Marik paused as he thought over his words, and then chuckled. "It is kinda crazy – the three of us at the mall – thinking of him as a separate person at all is weird."

Bakura nested his forehead into the palms of his hands. "Gods, Marik. I'm alive. I'm alive and for the first time since I was seven, I don't know what to do with my life. There's no more Pharaohs for me to hate. What the hell am I going to do?"

Marik grinned. "I had the same problem. That's why I decided to go to school. I don't even have a major, I'm just taking random classes for something to do."

"Yeah, but what am I suppose to do?"

"Come to classes with me. I have more than one off-shore bank account that I could use for your tuition."

"You can't be serious."

"Why not? I mean, heaven knows you're not getting a job any time soon." Marik shrugged. "Although, if you prefer, I could forget buying you clothes and just leave you naked in the bed as my concubine. That does have a certain appeal to it as well."

"It really would complete the pretentious asshole motif you've got going in the apartment."

* * *

Someone shook Ryo. He slapped at their hands and settled back into the warm haze of his mind, but the shaking resumed after a few seconds of reprieve.

"Ryo, it's almost 5:30 in the evening. Wake up, you little shit."

Ryo slapped at the hands again, half-recognizing the voice as Bakura's. "Whatever. Just take the body and do what you want. I need to sleep a little more."

Marik's voice joined Bakura's. "Was it always that easy to take control?"

"You'd be surprised to realize how often that happened."

"Wasn't he worried you'd hurt Yugi?"

Bakura snorted. "No. Mr. I-have-faith-in-my-friends always thought I'd lose in the end."

Ryo blinked his eyes. He couldn't see, but his mind cleared a little. "Yeah, we had a bet. You owe me an entire case of pocky because you lost your final Shadow Game against the Pharaoh."

A dark, sardonic chuckle. "Hey Marik, when we're at the store I need to pick up a case of pocky."

"What are you? His trophy wife or something? You've been back for a day and you're already spending all his money."

The third voice made Ryo open his eyes. "Wait, this isn't a dream."

"No, it's not a dream. Life is really this fantastic." Bakura snorted, the irony in his voice sounded thick and malicious.

"I'm so tired." Ryo rubbed his left temple as he sat up.

Bakura sat on the bed next to Ryo, Marik stood next to Bakura, and Kek stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. Ryo smiled at Kek. He couldn't help it, memories of their hallway make-out session still sent exquisite shivers down into Ryo's belly. "Good morning, Kek."

His lips flicked up in a grin as he gave Ryo a single nod to acknowledge the greeting.

Bakura leaned forward to block Ryo's view of Kek. "Well, now that you're up. Make breakfast."

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Remind me why I wanted you back from the Shadow Realm so badly?"

"Monster World."

That sweet, overpowering endorphin rush known only to drug addicts and otakus hit Ryo's brain like a jolt of cocain from just  _hearing_  the name of his favorite obsession. "There's four of us. We could play."

"Are you kidding?" Marik crossed his arms over his chest. "Finals are in two weeks."

"When have you ever studied for finals?" Ryo asked.

"I do – sometimes – It depends on the class."

Bakura sighed, his face twisted into an unreadable expression. "I guess I'm enrolling next semester. If anyone asks, I'm your cousin."

Ryo's mouth dropped. It made sense. They were alive and needed to do something, but the thought of Bakura doing homework was a little much for Ryo's brain to cope with. "I . . . what made you want to go to school?"

"It's more like I got drafted into the world's most boring RPG."

Ryo giggled. "So Marik gave you an ultimatum of a job or school?"

"No, I gave him the ultimatum of school or sex-slave. Personally, I'm disappointed in his choice."

Kek snorted. "And I'm surprised by his choice. The way he lets you boss him around, he's already your bitch. He might as well pay rent on his back."

"And is that how you're going to pay rent for staying with Ryo?" Bakura asked without missing a beat after Kek's sarcastic remark. "Or will you be on your knees instead?"

"I'm getting a job. Unlike you, I'm not going to free-load off of my boyfriend."

Ryo blushed. "Hey, I said no boyfriend negotiations until  _after_  you have a job. I still haven't even agreed to a second date yet."

Kek growled at Ryo's rebuttal. "How am I suppose to get a second date, then?"

Ryo grinned. "Think of tonight's shopping trip as a fetch quest. You have to go to the mall, get your quest items – clothes and toiletries – and come back in one piece. Also, you can't kill any NPC's, or your other party members. That's an instant quest fail."

"See?" Bakura sighed. "Most boring RPG in existence. Kinda makes you miss trying to kill the Pharaoh, doesn't it?"

"No shit," Kek agreed.

Marik snickered, looking at his twin. "You know, you might want to check in the mirror before you call Bakura a bitch again."

"What the hell's that suppose to mean?"

"Ryo has you awfully well trained."

"Fuck you!" Kek stormed away from the bedroom.

"You're the ones that have to deal with him tonight. Maybe you shouldn't make it harder on yourselves." Ryo crawled out of bed, shuffling towards the kitchen to find what staples he had in order to feed four instead of one. "I mean, your record with him is 0-1."

* * *

Kek sat at Ryo's kitchen table, drinking tea and eating fried rice. The flavors tasted dull, like he had a cold and could only taste the basic five flavors on his tongue. It lacked the complexity aroma lent to food, but he was hungry and the meal was filling and the tea was warm in his mouth. He sat at a table, drinking tea and eating fried rice. That in itself amazed Kek. He'd known nothing but dark - the dark of the tomb, the dark of Marik's mind, the dark of the Shadow Realm. The current moment was almost normal and that made Kek excited.

He was afraid, though, afraid if he admitted how happy he felt, that it would all be stripped away. He prayed to Ra for that not to happen, prayed to the god he once merged with and hoped that his previous unity with the Winged Dragon provided some measure of grace for a possessed doll trying to stumble his way into humanity one scarlet centimeter at a time.

Marik and Bakura bickered about nothing. It amazed him how they managed it. Marik had his chopsticks placed just so, and Bakura moved them, demanding Marik quit being a snob. Even as they fought, even as Marik slapped Bakura's hands away from his chopsticks and called him an asshole, Kek couldn't remember ever seeing his other heart happy before. Of course not, it was Marik's pain, rage, and sorrow that allowed Kek to exist. Once he would have been jealous at Marik's joy, but their moment in the living room had given them a strange bond, and Kek was happy for Marik despite himself.

Kek snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Ryo's small, cool hand reach for his fingers under the table. As Marik and Bakura played hot-potato with a barrage of insults, he and Ryo stared at one another and smiled.

* * *

Once Ryo had them out of the apartment, he went about the meticulous task of purifying each room. He lit white candles, and incense, and played chants on his computer that would help clear the air. Ryo sprinkled dried basil around the house, and chimed bells, and used a smudge stick of cedar and sage to purify each room. As he wandered from room to room, using a long, white feather to fan the sage-smoke around his bedroom, Ryo thought he saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He jerked, almost dropping the bowl in his hand, but when he turned all he saw was his jacket draped over a chair.

Ryo exhaled. The hand holding the feather pressed against his chest. "All these stupid games have me so jumpy."

By the time the others returned, the candles burned half as tall as they once had. Kek pushed the door opened, his arms burdened with different colored and sized bags. "Ryo!" he growled, dropping the bags near the sofa. "Never leave me alone with those two idiots again. It's like babysitting two five-year-olds."

Ryo laughed. "It couldn't have been that bad."

Even as he said it, he could hear them arguing in the hallway, and Ryo wondered if perhaps he was wrong.

"They argued about which street would take us to the mall faster. Then they argued about which store to go to first. Then they argued about what size Bakura wears. Then they argued about what colors he should wear. Then Marik bitched that Bakura bought too many t-shirts and needed nicer clothes. And that wasn't half as bad as when they got all cutsey and dragged me into the novelty store so they could buy freaking sex toys – and they couldn't even do that without arguing!"

Ryo held his stomach as he laughed. Hearing the muffled voices argue outside made it easy to imagine. "Well, you've definitely earned your second date." Ryo winked at Kek. "Maybe even a third one."

Kek scratched his chest and belly and then his arms. "Then they argued about calling a cab, since we had so many bags we needed one. They argued about how to cram the bags in the trunk. They even tried to tell the cabby how to get to our apartment faster like he didn't know his way around Domino! You have no idea how hard it was not to just smack their skulls together and leave their corpses in a dumpster. Fuck, they're idiots." Kek clawed at his skin with a frown on his face. "Fuck, I'm itchy."

Ryo frowned. He lifted up Kek's shirt. "I think you're breaking out in hives."

"Must be allergic to stupid," Kek muttered under his breath.

Ryo touched the red hives poxing Kek's golden skin. "I think it's all the white magic I've been using. It doesn't hurt like before because you're half human now, but it's acting like an allergy."

"Great. Now the air's trying to kill me."

"Maybe you should spend the night at Mar—"

"Ryo," Kek snarled at the wan male beside him. "You finish that sentence. See what happens."

"I just feel so guilty." Ryo frowned. "I mean, I'm glad the spells are working, but you weren't exactly the evil spirit I was trying to protect myself from."

Kek snorted. "This is nothing – it's only half as irritating as having to shop with those two morons."

"Speaking of which, it's gotten awfully quiet out there. I better make sure they didn't kill each other."

"If Marik's dead, I call dibs on his motorcycle."

"That's a horrible thing to say." Ryo stopped to watch a flick of doubt in Kek's eyes as Ryo scolded him. Ryo chuckled. "But since you went there – I call dibs on Marik's t.v. It's huge."

Kek smirked at Ryo's answer, and they walked to the front door, peeking out into the hallway. Bags scattered across the floor, and in the center of the chaos, Marik stood with Bakura pinned against the wall. Bakura had his legs wrapped around Marik's waist and arms hooked around Marik's neck. They kissed like the world was ending. Bakura's hair scattered into his face, over his shoulders, and against the wall.

Kek smacked his forehead against the door frame when he saw them. "Screw this. I'm taking a shower. Maybe I can wash some of the damn holy magic off my skin."

"I don't think soap works as a protection from good spell. Do you need help taking off the bandages?"

"Nope, I'll just rip them off and take the sting." Kek grumbled as he walked away. "Bastards, kissing in the hallway was our thing. I should set them on fire."

After Kek left, Ryo turned back to Marik and Bakura, whose kisses had settled from desperate to sweet, lingering sweeps of their lips. "You two are adorable."

Bakura responded by sticking out his middle finger. Ryo only laughed. "Well, it's getting late and you don't look like you want to come in and talk. So I'll see you guys later." Ryo shut the door and locked it.

* * *

Kek knew about showers. He and Marik shared most of their basic memories from the time Kek was created to the time he was banished, but knowing and experiencing first hand were quite different from each other. Kek growled at the tiled floor below his bare feet, pissed off because of the chill that swept up his body. He turned on the shower, but forgot to let the water warm first and a burst of cold shocked Kek's shoulders and chest.

"Shit!" He stepped away from the spray, careful not to slip.

"You okay?" Ryo's soft voice permeated through the door a moment later.

"Fine," he snapped, though it wasn't Ryo's fault the floor and water were cold.

"Let me know when you're done so I can disinfect your cut."

Kek didn't respond, his mind preoccupied with adjusting the water temperature. A small nudge to the right and Kek froze his balls off, but the same nudge to the left boiled him like a lobster. He didn't understand why more people in society weren't homicidal maniacs. Who wouldn't be ready to sacrifice all existence to the Shadows after dealing with that bullshit each and every morning? He thought about asking Ryo for help, but that'd make him feel like a child needing a mother to teach him how to handle basic, daily functions, and he'd banish himself back to the Darkness before doing that.

But once he found that magical sweet spot between frozen hell and burning hell, Kek decided the entire struggle had been worth it. Steam drifted around him as the hot water flowed down the curves of his muscles. Kek sighed, closing his eyes and enjoying the calm that sank into him. Calm. He never experienced the feeling before his game of hide and seek with Ryo. Between the smooth white of the shower tiles and the smooth white of Ryo's hand, Kek couldn't help but associate the feeling of calm with smooth and white. That's how he felt inside, smooth and white, like the rice that used to fill his cloth body.

Kek looked down and studied the gash splitting his lower half. Ryo washed the blood away the night before, but the iodine he used to disinfect the cut left an ugly, yellow smear around the scabbed areas. Kek used soap and a wash cloth to scrub the yellow off of his skin. He touched the threaded section of his chest and sank down to where thread became scab and stitches. He'd have another scar ripping across him, but Kek wasn't sure how he felt about it. He thought he'd hate it – he associated scars with hate, and pain, and fury – but this scar was different. It symbolized being alive, not the alter ego of a broken child, but a fully realized individual. It wasn't a wound forced on him against his will – it was something he earned one experience at a time, from kissing Ryo with coffee staining their lips, to crying on the floor with Marik as they remembered  _why_  they had to kill the bastard who'd broken them.

The combination of the hot water and Kek's relaxed frame of mind – mingled with the memory of kissing Ryo – sent a shiver deep into Kek's belly. He didn't even realize his fingers had slipped lower down his body until he felt the wiry mess of hair growing well below where his gash ended. Kek leaned against the tiled wall and let his fingers explore the curves of his body and the coarse tuff of hair. His touches were more curious than anything. Never having had his own body, and having little time with Marik's, this was the first opportunity Kek ever had to feel his physical form for the sake of it.

The skin beneath his fingers felt odd, like leather more than skin, and that only came to his fingers in a far-off way. Still, it was more sensation than the first night when he stabbed himself with a needle and felt nothing. Feeling nothing was worse than the salt on Ryo's lips burning his mouth. Kek's eyes fluttered shut as he thought about Ryo's kisses, not the salt-laced one that seared his flesh, but the ones after that tasting of sweetened coffee and Ryo's tongue. It'd been the only time Kek hadn't felt like a construct.

Kek's fingers traced up his erect shaft. He experimented with tracing his nails along the skin, or the pads of his fingers, or the cup of his hand. Each flourish of movement made him ache for more, and he dropped his ass to the shower floor so he didn't have to support his weight. The memory of him kissing Ryo played over and over in his head, and each time he thought of it his touches quickened and grew more desperate until he stroked himself with a strong, steady rhythm. A few minutes later, he gritted his teeth, arched his back, and came over the drain in the center of the shower.

Kek breathed hard. He still felt calm, but now he also felt pleasant. It was more exhilarating than defeating his opponents during a Shadow Game, that warm, sleepy, content feeling blanketing his mind. Kek looked down and realized he was bleeding. Two new centimeters wept scarlet down his belly. He felt the warmth of the blood this time – he hadn't the other times, and his skin was a touch softer, his sight a touch clearer. It was odd, changing from a doll to a human in little jerks and starts. Kek stood up, turned off the shower, and tried to staunch the bleeding with his wash cloth. He looked through Ryo's first aid kit, but stitching his own cut was awkward.

Five minutes later he heard a soft rap on the door. Another new emotion hit Kek – embarrassment. He hadn't meant to experiment with himself in the shower, and now that Ryo (the object of his fantasies) knocked on the door, Kek felt awkward. His brain was all hazy from his orgasm and all he wanted to do was kiss Ryo and fall asleep curled up next to him, but he couldn't bare admitting it out loud. He'd sound weak. Kek put on a deliberate scowl before opening the door.

His expression didn't stop Ryo from smiling at him. "The cut's a little higher than before, and your hives are smaller. I didn't think a shower would be that useful."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Kek snapped, trying to tease his way out of his embarrassment. "Stop being concerned about my wounds and blush at the sight of my perfectly sculpted body."

"Believe me, I notice." Ryo spoke with a voice as soft and light as dandelion fluff. He reached out as if he wanted to touch Kek's chest.

Kek braced himself for the feather fall of Ryo's fingers against his skin, but it never came. Instead, Ryo reached for the iodine to coat Kek's laceration in another smear of ugly yellow. "I put your bags in your room."

Kek grinned. "One of them is yours."

Ryo blinked. "What?"

"I got you a new outfit." Kek rolled his eyes. "I'm going to try and do everything myself. Job, and money, and that stuff, but technically, half of Marik's money is mine, so I didn't feel bad spending a few extra bucks."

Now Ryo did blush. "But . . . why?"

"Our date tonight."

"Tonight?" Ryo grabbed the bandana tied around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes. "No, no, no. Not tonight. I'm a mess, and I have school tomorrow."

"Ryo Bakura you are not squirming out of this. I went shopping, and I didn't kill anyone, maim anyone, or even punch Bakura. I didn't set any mannequins on fire – although it would have been really funny. I didn't punch any of the glass windows, or threaten any of the clerks, or snap the neck of the dumb broad who sprayed me with cologne."

"Naturally, not snapping her neck would go in the category of not killing anyone."

"Missing the point, Ryo!"

"No, I get the point. You acted like a normal human being and you want me to reward you for it, but I've acted like a normal human being everyday of my life and no one's ever rewarded me. That's not how it works."

"Get dressed or I'll hoist you over my shoulder and carry you around town kicking and screaming in your cleaning clothes."

Ryo finished taping the last of Kek's bandages. "Yeah? You could do that. You're strong enough, but that won't get you any kisses at the end of the night."

Kek thrust out his bottom lip, he looked like a monstrous, pouting lion. "Fine. Stay here and sit on the couch. I don't need you to validate my existence. I'll go out by myself."

Ryo followed him into his room. "What will you do?"

Kek shoved a red bag into Ryo's hands and nudged him out of his room. "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone. I am capable of acting like a normal person without a bribe, you know."

He slammed the door and dropped his towel to the floor, rummaging through various bags to find what he wanted. Red leather pants, and a close fitting, black, long-sleeved shirt.

Ryo called through the door. "I'm still curious as to what you plan on doing!"

"I don't know!" Kek called from his bed as he dressed. "Walk around, I guess. I want to become human and that won't happen if I sit on the couch!"

He stood still, one leg in his pants and the other naked, but Ryo never responded. Kek grunted and finished dressing. He lined his eyes with black pencil that was what passed for Kohl at the stores he searched. He didn't add the wings Marik wore, he wanted a specifically less "Ishtar" look; instead, he drew a straight line out from the corner of his eye. He stared at his face in the hand mirror, wondering if it was different enough, but he didn't want to wash it off, so he supposed it would do for the night. He decided he didn't like the gold with his outfit, so he removed his tomb-keeper jewelry in exchange for a thick, steal chain he'd purchased. The gold armlets, earrings, and choker were status markers, as much a part of his last name as the word "Ishtar," so it felt good to have them off of his wrists and neck for at least one night, like a pit-bull pulled free from his leash.

He carried his new shoes with him and left his room, stopping near the door only to put on his shoes.

"Wait for me," Ryo called as he jogged to where Kek stood.

Kek snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as Ryo tied his shoes. "Thought you weren't going to 'reward' me for acting like I should."

Ryo sighed, looking up at Kek. "I realized that was my fault for bribing you with a date in the first place. I'm sorry. Marik was right, I was being manipulative."

The outfit Kek bought for Ryo was a cobalt blue shirt and camel colored slacks. The colors looked bright and stunning against Ryo's whiter than virtue skin. Kek had to swallow a lot of pride when he asked Bakura to help him pick out the right size for Ryo.

Kek forced his fingers to stay still, but all he wanted to do was reach out and touch his new roommate, to feel the body beneath the fabric, to taste his lips one more time. It hurt not to be able to lean close.

"What made you change your mind?"

Ryo shrugged; he looked shy. "What you said about not sitting on the couch. I've been locking myself up in my apartment a lot lately. Maybe it's time . . . I go back outside."

Kek extended his hand for Ryo to take.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I literally sat in front of my computer, eating blueberries and trying to think of what they'd taste like to Kek. Blueberries taste suspiciously like blueberries, so this was harder than I thought it'd be to describe their flavor through the eyes of someone who's never had them before.

They walked down the street holding hands. Ryo stared at his shoes. He couldn't look at Kek for more than a moment at a time, not in his new clothes, and not with his eyes lined dark as sin. The black made the plum of his eyes glow and Ryo thought back to all the legends he read about men wandering too deep in the woods, finding a fairy grotto, and never returning. Those fairies must have had violet eyes. Their eyes must have glowed the way Kek's eyes glowed, bright as magic, strong as the creation of all things.

It hurt not to grab Kek's face and pull their mouths together. Seeing Marik and Bakura in the hallway didn't help. It only served as a reminder of Ryo's own hallway excursion and how much he longed to repeat it.

"Where are we going?" Ryo asked his shoes.

"I don't know. You live here. Where is there to go?"

"Are you hungry?"

Kek thought about it and nodded his head.

"Want ramen? There's a pretty good place close by."

Kek shrugged. "I can only half-taste food, so pick whatever you'd like."

Ryo frowned. "I forget. You look alive . . ." Ryo looked away. "You look really good."

He grinned and licked his lips before he returned the complement. "You do, too."

Ryo toyed with his hair. "Of course I do. You picked out the outfit. There's the ramen place."

They sat down and ordered two specials. The broth tasted perfect and Ryo hummed a bit as he ate, until he noticed Kek watching him and he stopped, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't stop," Kek whispered.

"I try not to do that in public, but I forget sometimes. It's a bad habit I never grew out of as a child."

"I like it."

Ryo felt his face flush. "I'm sorry you can't taste the noodles."

"I can somewhat – more than the fried rice."

"When you're completely human, we'll celebrate with a feast. Sushi, sashimi, ichigo daifuku." Ryo laughed. "We'll see how much wasabi you can handle without making a face."

Kek snorted. "What? Because I'm not Japanese, you think I can't handle a little horseradish? You wait. I'll show you."

Ryo stirred the remaining soup in his bowl. He plucked the last piece of naruto from the broth with his chopsticks. "Naruto always reminds me of the cartoon."

"what cartoon?"

Ryo looked at Kek. "Yeah, I guess Marik didn't watch a lot of t.v. when you shared a mind, did he?"

Kek rolled his eyes. "The news."

"Well that settles it." Ryo popped the pinwheel in his mouth. "Naruto marathon for us. You can watch the original episodes while I study for finals."

"It won't bother you?"

"Nah, the background noise will help me study. Besides, I think you'll like it. I mean, I know you're not keen on friendship-this and friendship-that, but the characters go through a lot of pain, too. I think you'll identify with some of them."

They finished their soup and went back out on the streets. A breeze blew maple leaves into their hair. Ryo helped fish one out of Kek's nest of spikes. Kek grabbed Ryo's shoulders. "You're shaking a little."

"It's kinda cold. We should have brought jackets."

Kek pulled Ryo close to his chest. Ryo sighed and a wave of heat seeped through their clothes and into Ryo's body. "You're like a radiator. You weren't this warm last night."

"Can we get another can of coffee on the way home?"

Ryou smiled, pulling away from the embrace so they could walk again. "Yeah. I'll need it during the next few weeks. We can stock up."

"Good, I like coffee . . . I can taste it."

"Because it's so strong?"

"I think because it was off your lips."

Ryo flushed at the memory again. Kek's theory made sense. Technically, he was a spirit and didn't have senses, at least until he body finished converting from doll to flesh; however, since Ryo summoned him from the Shadow Realm, they were connected. Which gave him an idea. They stopped by the first market they saw. Ryo grabbed several packs of canned espresso, but he also bought a chocolate bar and pint of blueberries as well.

"Are you still hungry?" Kek asked.

Ryo bit his bottom lip to avoid laughing. "I want dessert."

Kek took the bags and carried them for Ryo. When they got back to Ryo's apartment, Ryo washed the blueberries and dried them. Next, he arranged them on a plate with pieces of chocolate. He grabbed the coffee and went into the living room. Kek sat on the couch with his hands on his knees. He gave Ryo a look that screamed  _kiss me_ , but Ryo wanted to toy with him before he succumbed to those heart-stopping eyes.

Ryo sat on the carpet with crossed legs. He patted the floor in front of him. "Come and sit here."

Kek's face fell. "Okay."

Ryo placed the food between them, looking up at Kek with a smile. "Close your eyes."

Kek scowled. "Why?"

"We're going to play a game."

He tried to hold back his pout, but Kek's face was too expressive to hide his disappointment. "Weren't you tired? Let's sit on the couch instead."

Ryo smirked. "Trust me. You'll like this game."

Kek suppressed a low growl and closed his eyes.

Ryo scooted closer. "Open your mouth."

Kek chuckled, and pressed his lips shut in order to be difficult. Ryo brushed the tip of his thumb against the corner of Kek's mouth. The light touched made Kek take a sharp inhale of breath, which parted his lips. Ryo slipped a blueberry in Kek's mouth. Kek tried to catch Ryo's fingers with his lips but wasn't fast enough.

"What does it taste like?"

"Kinda tart?"

"I'll give you another one." Ryo set the blueberry directly on Kek's tongue and allowed his fingers to linger for a moment instead of pulling them back.

Kek closed his lips around Ryo's fingers. A little moan escaped his mouth, muffled by Ryo's fingers. Ryo pulled them away slowly. "What does it taste like?"

"Like nighttime."

Ryo tilted his head. "Nighttime?"

"It's a dark, sweet taste, but also tart which is bright like the stars, and it tastes expansive like the sky."

Ryo popped a few blueberries into his own mouth, wanting to taste them as Kek described them. "You know, I don't think I've ever put that much thought into a taste before."

"Can I have another one?"

Ryo nodded and fed him another berry. Kek grinned and returned the favor, teasing the blue-violet fruit against Ryo's lips before tucking it into his mouth. They didn't sit across from each other for more than three minutes. Each time they fed each other, Ryo or Kek would scoot closer until Ryo climbed into Kek's lap.

"Why do you make everything taste and feel real?" Kek looked dazed. He kept bringing his lips close to Ryo's only to be defeated by another blueberry pressed into his mouth.

"I think I'm acting as a bridge from your senses to the real world."

"Why you?"

"Because I summoned you." Ryo placed his hand on Kek's belly. "Some of my nail clippings were inside the doll, so we have a physical connection as well as a magical one."

They exchanged simultaneous glances at each other, but Kek spoke their thoughts out loud first. "What if I like you because . . ."

"Only because I was the one to summon you?"

"Yeah." Kek nodded. "I . . . don't want that to be the reason."

Ryo shook his head. "I don't know how to answer that. Marik and Bakura wanted to be together before they played, but only you can decide why you like me."

"What if that's the only reason you're not afraid of me?"

Ryo shook his head. "No, I would like you regardless."

"How can you be so sure?"

Ryo toyed with the ends of his hair. The scent of incense clung to everything in the apartment, and Ryo took a deep breath of the woody, smoky aroma. "I don't have to smile around you. I always feel like everyone expects me to smile. They banished Bakura and that was suppose to make me happy, but they never  _asked_  how I felt about it. Also, nothing scares you. I love creepy things so much, but everyone always wrinkles their face at the movies I like, or the Duel Monster cards I pick, because I'm nice they expect me to surround myself with cheerful, happy things – weak, fluffy things – only, that's not what I like." Ryo looked away. "And you're gorgeous, so of course I'd find you attractive."

Kek leaned his head against Ryo's shoulder. His fingers trembled, but that didn't stop him from combing them through Ryo's hair. "I don't know yet." He hid in Ryo's chest. "But I don't want you to stop because I feel half-real without you."

Ryo sighed, reaching over and plucking a piece of chocolate from the plate. He put half in his mouth and leaned towards Kek to feed him the other half. Kek opened his mouth for the chocolate. Their lips touched and they kept them ghosting against each other as they sucked on the candy.

"What does it taste like?" Ryo asked once they'd finished.

"Like velvet."

"I like how you describe things." Ryo cinched his fingers into Kek's hair and kissed him hard, swirling his tongue into Kek's opened mouth. He pulled away, panting. "What do I taste like?"

Kek looked at Ryo. His lavender eyes looked lost. "Like the universe. Like everything I always wanted but couldn't have because it was outside and I was underground."

The words punched hooks into Ryo's heart. He kissed Kek again, his lips delicate and reverent against Kek's mouth. Kek moaned and gasped for air. Ryo dropped down to his neck and he called out.

"Ryo. Gods, Ryo. Kiss me right there."

_Right there_  was the side of Kek's throat. Ryo felt a thin, weak thrum against his lips where Kek's pulse should be. He sucked Kek's golden-brown skin.

"Ryo, you kiss like blueberries taste."

Ryo groaned and pulled away. "You can't keep talking like that. I'll . . . I want to . . . you make me hurt."

"Here?" Kek pressed his palm to Ryo's heart.

Ryo blushed and looked away. "No. Not there."

Kek shook his head. "Then I don't understand."

Ryo didn't want to explain; however, since Kek was still trying to puzzle together life and the fundamental concepts of humanity, Ryo decided it'd be better to say what he meant instead of being vague.

He grabbed Kek's hand and pulled it down to his crotch. "Here."

"Oh." Kek's face turned rosy.

Ryo didn't realize someone as tanned as Kek could blush that well. Marik never did. Then again, Marik was better at masking his emotions where Kek's feelings always danced naked across his face. Kek started kneading Ryo's erection through his pants. Ryo called out in surprise and leaned against Kek's body. Kek kissed Ryo's throat, pressing a little harder into Ryo's pants. Ryo rocked into Kek's ministrations, near whining into Kek's ear.

"I need . . . to stop." Ryo gasped, even as he bucked against the palm of Kek's hand.

"No, don't stop," Kek said, "I want to touch you." He reached up for Ryo's belt buckle.

Ryo held his breath as he forced himself to stop moving. He grabbed Kek's hands before they could undo his belt buckle. "I need to stop."

"Why?" Kek looked confused at Ryo. "I want you to feel real, too."

Ryo blinked at Kek, fascinated by the way Kek used association to describe everything, as if to protest the disassociation that created him. "I . . ." He felt lost for words, Ryo was never good with words unless he could write them down. "I want to wait until you're more human."

Kek looked down. He looked sad. Ryo brushed his fingers across Kek's cheek and made him lift his face. "It's not that you're not good enough now. Trust me, nothing would make me happier than to drag you to bed right now, but . . . it wouldn't be fair to you. You need to feel like a complete person before we . . . get closer."

Kek nodded, looking contemplative. "Does that mean no more kissing?"

Ryo thought a moment. "It means we have to keep our clothes on and our hands above the waist."

Kek pushed Ryo to the carpet. "Good, because I'm not sure I have enough self restraint not to touch you at all."

Ryo shrieked as his back hit the floor. He laughed until Kek's mouth forced him to stop. Their fingers twined together as they made out on the carpet, the blueberries and chocolate forgotten and the coffee untasted. Ryo's groin hurt worse than before with unreleased pressure, but there was no way in hell he was stopping.

The t.v. turned on beside them, showing snow instead of a channel. Ryo wondered if one of them kicked the remote with their foot, but didn't pay much attention to it. He was more concerned with the warm, hard, weight of Kek's body resting heavy on Ryo's crotch, and the burn of their lips. Kek grabbed at Ryo's shirt, tugging at it, desperate to rip the barrier of cloth to shreds. Kek growled and started sucking on Ryo's throat.

Ryo threw his head back. He moaned, his face red and his hair spilling across the carpet.

"C-could you use your teeth?" he asked, feeling awkward. He'd never asked anyone to do something specific before.

Then again, he'd never wanted to be so fully entangled into another person's arms before, nor had he ever wanted to  _attack_  someone with affection before. A force drove him, violent and primal, but at the same time endearing. Ryo wanted sharp teeth and soft kisses, hard thrusts and tender caresses. He wanted everything and he wanted it all at once.

"I promised I wouldn't hurt you ever again."

"No, like this." Ryo demonstrated on Kek's collarbone. Kek cried out, his voice like wind chimes caught in a storm. He bit Ryo in return and Ryo purred, satisfied despite his other yearnings.

Something crashed in the kitchen. Ryo's heart, already racing, sped into overdrive. He and Kek jerked to their feet. A sharp glint, like a streetlight shining against a steal blade, flashed in Kek's eyes. It was a look that horrified Ryo when Kek had his hands around Ryo's throat, but he appreciated it now that the clock said midnight and someone may be in his kitchen.

A loud, rhythmic banging echoed from the kitchen to the living room. Wood striking wood,  _bang . . . bang . . . bang._

Ryo covered his ears to mute the noise.

"Stay here," Kek said.

"Like hell I am," Ryo muttered, following Kek towards the kitchen.

"At least stay back."

"Okay."

They stepped into the kitchen and stopped for a moment unsure of what they saw. The cupboards opened and slammed on their own.  _Bang . . .bang . . . bang . . . crash._ Every plate, cup, and bowl slid out and shattered against the tiled floor. Ryo screamed at the noise, not really frightened, but unnerved.

"Ryo?" Kek asked.

"It didn't work."

"What didn't work?"

"Everything I did today. Shit. I should have known better. There's no way Marik and I could just pull you both from the Shadows without some kind of tear into the spirit plane."

"But, the rash I got? It had to have worked."

Ryo shook his head. "Remember when I sprayed you with salt water? It hurt, but it just pissed you off. Well . . ." Ryo gestured to the fragments of dishes scattered across his floor like chunks of hail. "I think whatever's here – is pissed off. Hopefully it's done for the night."

"What are you going to do?"

Ryo sighed. "Go to bed and deal with it in the morning. I can sweep up before school. I'll buy some stuff after classes. If it's just a poltergeist then I can deal with it."

Kek swallowed, looking more grave than normal. "What if it's something worse?"

Ryo gave his patent  _everything will be okay_  smile. "I'm an excellent White Wizard, don't worry about it." He stared at the floor. "Until then . . ." Ryo tip-toed across the kitchen and to the cupboard with his pantry staples. He grabbed a canister of salt and poured some into a sandwich bag. He went back to the other side of kitchen and handed the canister to Kek, keeping the bag. "Here."

"Why salt?"

"Salt is holy. Surround your bed before you go to sleep tonight – just to be safe. Don't forget to to use a sock or something to break the circle in the morning before you get out of bed. Otherwise it'll feel uncomfortable when you walk through the seal."

Kek frowned at the salt, but took it. "Knives are more fun."

"Knives won't do a damn thing against whatever is in the house."

"I like enemies that bleed."

Ryo shrugged and took Kek's hand. "Let me walk you 'home'. I want to end our date properly this time."

Kek grinned as Ryo led him to the hall. They stopped in front of Kek's bedroom door.

"Don't forget, all the way around the bed. Ghosts don't take up physical space, so a break of any size is all they need to mess with you in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, okay."

"Well . . . goodnight." Ryo stood on his tip-toes so he could reach Kek's lips.

Kek leaned against his door, sighing into the kiss. It melted into multiple kisses, until Ryo forced himself to pull away. "Goodnight," he said again.

"Goodnight." Kek slipped into his own room.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Random thoughts on this chapter:
> 
> Seto Kaiba is freakn' awesome, and it's a damn shame I don't have him in my stories more often.
> 
> I have nothing but motherly pride for how Kek goes and gets a job (and his willingness to do any job, although he ends up getting a job he's quite suited for).
> 
> Hikaru no Go is a manga/anime about a game called Go. You'd think that'd be boring as crap, but it kinda sucks you in. I couldn't help but make fun of anime conventions in this chapter. (particularly how easy it is to redeem villains in anime/manga).
> 
> The plot will pick up again next chapter.

Kek cleared his bed of bags and loose clothing before lining his sleeping area with salt. He forgot to get into the bed before he closed the circle and growled as he broke the circle in order to reach his mattress. Then he realized he had to go to the bathroom and cursed whatever spirit haunted Ryo's apartment straight back into the Shadows. By the third time Kek lay in his bed with salt surrounding him. The feeling of holy magic permeated from the seal created by the salt, Kek felt the crawl of it on his skin, but it didn't hurt, rather it felt like the air during a thunderstorm.

He tried to sleep, but couldn't. Kissing Ryo made the tension in his own groin swell and build. His shower helped at first, but he was frustrated all over again. He turned on his belly, trying to ignore the feeling, but his weight pressing into the mattress made it worse. He squirmed, the movement nice but  _not enough_. Kek dug his fingers into his sheets, pressing his body a little harder against the mattress and shuddered. He gave up, flipping on his back and stripping his pants away from his legs. He took off his shirt as well, he didn't need to sleep in street clothes, nor did he want to break the circle of salt to find his sweat pants.

He took himself in his hand again. The memory of blueberries and chocolate carried him into orgasm, and when he finished, he curled into the blankets and fell into a luxurious sleep for several hours.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Kek jerked awake at the sound. He almost jumped from his bed, but remembered the magic seal corralling him inside.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

"You stupid, fucking ghost that's not even scary!" Kek screamed at his bedroom door.

A long stretch of silence made the air ring. Kek settled back down into his pillows. The clock said 3:00 a.m. His eyes fluttered shut again.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Kek clenched his teeth. The noise wasn't frightening, but it was annoying as fuck. Another stretch of silence, this one lasted five full minutes as Kek listened with half anticipation for more noise. When another round of banging violated the quiet, Kek bit his pillow to keep from screaming. Always three consistent bangs, but the frequency remained random, making sleep impossible.

By the time dawn broke through the blinds, Kek gave up and stood up. Groggy from lack of sleep. He forgot the salt and gasped in pain as he left his bed. Kek doubled over, holding his breath as he waited for the burning in his body to fade.

By the time Kek reached the kitchen, showered and clothed, the banging had stopped altogether. Kek found a broom and swept the broken shards from the night before off the floor. He knew Ryo had school and would already be exhausted and didn't want him having to clean up a ghost's temper-tantrum on top of it all. Why did he care? He never cared about clearing away the evidence of destruction before, or about others. Was it a convenient, magical glitch? Did he really only care because Ryo had summoned him back with magic? Or was it his own feelings?

Kek drank coffee and ate leftover chocolate for breakfast. He couldn't taste them as well without Ryo, but he remembered their taste, so he wanted to eat them more than other food. Kek touched his bandages. He became more real each day he stayed out of the Shadows, but it wasn't fast enough. Kek jotted down a quick note to Ryo and walked out the door. That's where humanity existed for Kek – outside. Out into the world. He couldn't hole up in an apartment anymore than he could sit underground. He had to become part of the world he once wanted to destroy.

He walked to the Kaiba Corp main office, and waited in the parking lot. Two armed guards escorted Kaiba through the indoor parking space. Kek pursed his lips, then raised his eyebrows. After a small trashcan fire at the other end of the lot, Kaiba stood alone and Kek walked up behind him.

Seto didn't jump like anyone else would. He stayed still, his back turned. Kek saw Seto's eyes in the reflection of a car's review mirror glance in his direction. "What do you want, Marik?"

"I'm not Marik, and I want a job."

A low noise, something between a single laugh and a grunt, parted Seto's lips. "That's amusing. Did that idiot, Jonouchi put you up to this?"

"I don't have a work visa, so it's not like I can get a regular job. You already know why, so let me work for you. Better you than the Yakuza, right?"

Kaiba snorted, crossing his arms over his chest despite the briefcase in one hand. He didn't bother calling to his goons that argued over how to put out the fire. Kek suspected that in Seto's mind, they no longer worked for Kaiba Corp.

"Seriously Marik, don't they have medication or something for your problems?"

"I told you, I'm not Marik. I'm Kek. I escaped the Shadows."

"Kek?" Seto wrinkled his face at the word. "Finally named your alter ego, did you? Well congratulations, but if you excuse me, I don't have time to play make believe with you. I have a job to do."

"And I want a job to do," Kek growled. "Anything. I'll clean the fucking toilets."

"I don't trust you to clean a toilet. I only hire the right people for the right jobs."

Kek looked at Seto's two body guards. The trash was spilled onto the concrete as they stomped at the flames.

Kaiba growled at the sight of them, guessing Kek's thoughts. "They are a mistake I will fix as soon as you go away."

"I'm not going away until you give me a job."

"Leave a resume. When I need to hire a crazy, blood-lustful monster you'll be the first I call." Seto gave a single blink of thought. "Actually, maybe I do have a job for you."

* * *

Ryo trudged to the kitchen, not looking forward to cleaning the broken class. When he saw the floor clean, he didn't understand. Ryo frowned at the tiles, then he noticed a note on the table. Ryo smiled as he realized Kek was the one to sweep up for him. He read the note twice, wanting to hear Kek's voice in his head before he had to suffer the boredom of school.

After classes, Ryo bought wind-chimes and bau guas and a few statues of angels. He burned more sage and prayed to Kannon and the ancestors. He also placed convex mirrors around the apartment to capture negative energy.

Ryo looked around, trying to sense any negative forces. Everything looked and felt cozy, but he feared it wouldn't be as easy as trapping negativity in a mirror.

The door burst open and someone in a hockey mask and blood-stained coveralls ran towards Ryou, waving a machete. Ryo screamed and kicked the intruder in the stomach out of reflex.

"Ow, Ryo! You're so damn mean!" The maniac dropped to the floor, letting go of his machete in order to grab his torso.

"Kek?"

"You kicked me right where I'm bleeding." Kek pushed the hockey mask up over his head. "You broke your pinky promise, you know."

"Kek!" Ryo dropped to his knees. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you, and you scared the crap out of me!"

A tired smile screwed onto Kek's face. "Surprise. I got a job."

"As a serial killer?"

"Kinda. I'm working in Level 2 of Death-T at Seto's indoor amusement park."

"The grave yard level? That's so cool! I love that place." Ryo blushed. "I guess I'm too old for it, but I can't help it. It's so much fun."

"I get to run around all day trying to kill people. It's the perfect job."

"Pretend kill, right?" Ryo laughed.

"Kaiba said if Jonouchi ever shows up I can kill him without my pay getting docked."

"He won't ever go there again. I heard Seto actually tried to kill them there once." Ryo unzipped Kek's coveralls. "How bad is your cut?"

Kek's grin grew large and wild. "Not too bad. It's about 70% up my chest now."

Ryo traced his fingers near the new wound. Kek's stitching had been tight in that area, so there wasn't a lot of blood. "Stay there. It's not that bad, but I still want to clean it and put bandages on you."

Ryo ran to the bathroom and gathered what he needed. When he returned, he removed Kek's old bandages and rewashed the entire cut. He looked at the bottom sections. "You're healing well. I don't see any red or swollen areas, nothing suggesting infection. You'll have a nasty scar, but otherwise, you'll be fine."

Kek touched Ryo's fingers with his own. "I'll like this scar. My memories, not the Pharaoh's."

Ryo smiled. "That's a good way to look at it."

"Also, when it heals all the way . . ." he grabbed Ryo's fingers and dragged them along his skin, dipping them just into his waist band and across the sensitive mid-line of his stomach. "You'll be able to go lower than that imaginary line."

Ryo blushed, but his eyes gleamed with want. "I'd rather not wait, but it feels like it'd be wrong of me if I didn't."

Kek kept Ryo's fingers moving across his skin, growing half-erect with even the simple touch. "You're stupid and sentimental, waiting for me to become human when I already feel everything when I'm near you. But I'll play along because . . ." He stared at Ryo a moment, as if to figure him out. "No one's ever cared before - cared about what I felt through my own body. It was always treated like Pharaoh's property and not mine, or Marik's, or whatever, you know what I mean."

Ryo used his free hand to cup Kek's face. "That's terrible. I don't see . . . I don't understand how they could do that to a child." Ryo leaned down, his face near Kek's. "I wish so bad I could make all your bad memories go away. I know I can't, but I wish I could. I just want to kiss you until you're too happy to remember anything bad."

Kek raised an eyebrow. "Each time you kiss me, you give me something good to remember later."

"True, I can do that. Give you new memories." Ryo tasted Kek's lips, salty and warm.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Ryo groaned. "Every time I try to kiss you something stops me."

Ryo forced himself to go answer the door. He saw Marik and Bakura standing there, glaring at each other.

Ryo scrunched up his face, a little confused. "Uh, hi. What's up?"

"Marik's boring," Bakura grumbled.

"Marik's studying for finals." He frowned at Bakura. "If I pay for delivery will you let him play video games? I can't get any reading done with him around."

Ryo smirked. "Hey, Bakura?"

Bakura crossed his arms over his chest. "What?"

"We're having a Naruto marathon."

"Fuck yes. Has Gara killed everyone yet?" Bakura pushed into the apartment and Marik followed him.

The show only started to air before Bakura's final Dark Game. Ryo didn't have the heart to explain Shaputen to him.

"He's a good guy now."

"What? Goddammit Japan. Why do you always have to ruin everyone with your bullshit friendship bullshit. That's not how it works in real life."

Apparently that was how it worked in real life – at least in Japan. Because here Ryo and Marik were, with their respective "evil" halves, about to study and watch anime as if everyone in the room except Ryo hadn't tried to bring ruin to the world at one point or another.

Then again, Duel Monsters and Monster World would probably make for a boring manga.

Then again, Ryo really liked Hikaru no Go . . .

Marik ordered sushi. He and Bakura took the couch and Ryo chose to cuddle next to Kek on the floor right below the couch. He glanced over at Kek as he tried a salmon roll.

"Can you taste it more now?"

"Shhh," Bakura hissed, eyes glued to the t.v.

"Yeah, the flavors are still weak, but much better than last night."

"Ryou, aren't you studying?" Marik asked, his face buried in a world lit book.

"Sure," Ryou said, staring down at his algebra notes without interest.

He lay his head in Kek's lap. It actually helped him focus on his homework – to be closer to Kek. Otherwise, he'd ignore his notes to stare at Kek. Nevertheless, the sleepless night before, plus the comforting sound of the t.v., plus the warmth of Kek's lap, lulled Ryo into a hard, needful sleep.

* * *

Kek didn't notice that he combed Ryo's hair as he watched t.v. until Marik spoke.

"You better wake him up."

Kek blinked and looked down, realizing Ryo slept in his lap. The moment was smooth and white, like shower tiles, like Ryo, like calm. "No, let him sleep. We didn't sleep much last night."

Bakura snickered as he skipped to the next episode. They'd watched two hours worth, and Kek wasn't sure when Ryo closed his eyes.

He glared at Bakura. More angry because he and Ryo  _hadn't_  done anything to deserve the sarcastic snicker Bakura gave him. Kek frowned, something else weighed on his mind. "How do you know the difference between magic and emotions?"

Bakura shrugged before going back to the show. "Hell if I know."

Marik looked up from his book. "Why?"

"I feel calm," Kek confessed. "But is it because I've changed? Is it really me that feels that way? Or is it because Ryo's calm and he's the one that summoned me? Is everything good in me just echoes of him? Or is some of it me?"

Bakura turned up the volume on the remote. Marik glowered at him, but then turned back to Kek.

Before Marik answered, three loud bangs resounded from the kitchen. Ryo jerked up, looking embarrassed as he dabbed spit away from the corner of his mouth. After another round of bangs, Ryo balled his hands into fists. "Shit. I was hoping I'd drove it away for at least a day or two."

Bakura turned off the t.v. "What is that?"

Three more bangs.

Ryo frowned. "I think it's a poltergeist."

Marik looked guilty, but Bakura clenched his jaw. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

"So far all it's done is bang the cupboards and break a few dishes, or . . . all the dishes."

"It's fucking annoying," Kek muttered.

"You can stay with us," Marik offered.

Ryo shook his head. "We'll be okay. I'll try to exorcize it tomorrow since basic cleansing spells aren't working."

A sound like shattering glass interrupted Ryou, and then everything went dark – except snow on a t.v. screen that Bakura had shut off a moment beforehand.

Marik shrieked when the lights went out. He curled into Bakura's chest and looked both panicked and furious. Marik's eyes looked gray in the t.v. light as he looked around. His breathing grew shallow and rapid.

"You're still not scary!" Kek shouted up at the dark ceiling.

Bakura wrapped his arms around Marik and gave Kek a pointed look. "I doubt that will do any good."

"I don't fucking care. Someone needs to say it. As an evil spirit, it's  _embarrassing_  to deal with this asshole. Throw some fucking knives, or something. Something scary."

"Don't give it ideas." Ryo rolled his eyes at Kek. "And knives wouldn't be scary either. Just inconvenient and mildly dangerous."

"Ryo." Bakura's image appeared dark and menacing with only the t.v. light. Kek grinned, thinking it was no wonder Ryo didn't scare easily.

"We're fine, Bakura. Take Marik home."

"I'm okay," Marik said, but his breathing didn't slow. "It's just . . . I didn't expect it. I'm fine, though."

Bakura set his jaw into a tight line, but a quick glance at Marik made him change his mind. He growled low in his throat in frustration before tightening his arm around Marik's shoulders and standing up to go. Marik didn't argue. The startled look on his face twisted into fury as he started walking towards the front door.

Kek understood the expression. It was the way their face once contorted on a table on their tenth birthday. It was Marik's anger and revulsion by both his inability to do anything about the situation and his fear of darkness.

Kek didn't fear the dark, not this dark. The dark in Ryo's living room sat on top of the skin, harmless, gentle. It was the Dark that frightened him. The Shadow Realm that pried inside of you didn't let you breath or move or think –  _that_  frightened him. Kek felt Ryo squeezing his hand. He looked down at it with a shocked, confused gaze and then his eyes lifted up to Ryo's. Brown and sweet like Kek's first taste of coffee, he wanted to drown in the soft affection of Ryo's gaze instead of Shadows.

"Does the dark bother you?"

Kek shook his head. "No, only Marik. I'm just pissed off it woke you up."

Ryo smiled. "That's considerate, but don't worry about me. I'll be drinking a lot of coffee, but this isn't half as bad as some of the shit Bakura put me through back in the day. I'll still score high on my tests."

Kek smirked. "Hey, Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck the ghost. Let's drink some coffee now."

Ryo blushed. "Well, I still have to study for advance comp, so some coffee wouldn't hurt."

"I'll get it." Truth be told, Kek didn't want Ryo in the kitchen with a pms-ing spirit slamming things. He walked barefoot over the tiles, watching the cupboards slam on their own as he made his way to the fridge.

A box of cupped ramen flung at his head, but Kek dodged it. "Stupid bitch, if you weren't stuck in some half dimension I'd show you how to be threatening."

Kek imagined that any other group of people would scream at slamming cupboards and shattering lights, but they were previous items holders. They once wove threads of Shadows with their fingertips on looms of cursed gold and created tapestries of nightmares. What was a mere ghost to that? Kek dodged the occasional box of flying food and tossed up his middle finger as he left the kitchen. He saw Ryo busy lighting white candles in a circle big enough for them to lay in.

He looked up at Kek and shrugged. "Protection circle. To be safe."

Kek stepped through, then back out, then back in. "It tickles. Last night it stung like a bitch."

"I can't wait until you're human." Ryo smiled.

"Me neither."

Ryo heard the suggestion in Kek's voice and flushed a little. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No, but I did." Kek sat crossed legged and pulled Ryo into his lap.

He took a sip of coffee and then grabbed the back of Ryo's head in order to press their mouths together. The flavors on his tongue deepened when Ryo's lips touched his own. They passed the drink back and forth, taking turns drinking and then sucking on each others' lips.

His head felt light and giddy. The combination of sugar and caffeine, of Ryo pressed against him, and the magic circle of white candles all around them, created an alcoholic effect in Kek's brain. In the kitchen, the cupboards banged away, but they didn't care. They were both too busy tugging at one another's shirts and trying to press their bodies as close as possible to bother with little noises in the kitchen.

Ryo pushed Kek to the floor and Kek laughed. They rolled their hips together insync with their lips.

"Gods," Ryo gasped into Kek's mouth. He clawed at Kek's belt, tugging at it as if angry it existed. His voice was a needy whine. "I want you now."

As Ryo yanked and pulled at Kek's belt, his knuckles brushed against the head of Kek's erection peeking up over his belt line. Kek couldn't answer Ryo, only throw his head back and cry out.

"Sorry." Ryo slipped his hand away from Kek's tip. "I didn't realize you were that big."

"Am I?" Kek asked, but he wasn't really paying attention to what he said. He was too busy staring at the way the candle light shimmered across Ryo's skin, and how much he wanted Ryo's hands to bump against him again.

A wicked look brightened Ryo's face. It somehow made his expression more innocent and sweet despite the perversion in it. "It's technically above the waist now, isn't it?"

"Oh please yes." Kek shut his eyes and swallowed. He felt his cheeks burn and it felt stupid that he'd blush without having a proper heart beat. "Touch me."

"Since you asked nicely." Ryo's voice was liquid silver flowing from his mouth, but his hands burned like candle flame too close to skin.

Ryo only toyed with the tip of Kek's erection, the part that rose above his belt. Nonetheless, Kek found he couldn't keep still with Ryo's hands on him. He squirmed and bucked himself higher into Ryo's touch. He held Ryo close, as if he'd fall through the carpet otherwise.

Ryo slowed down his hand. "Kek . . . tell me what to do." Ryo sank his head against Kek's chest. "Tell me to stop or tell me to keep going. I'll do whatever you tell me."

Kek moaned. He didn't want to think. His body wailed for Ryo to keep going, but the thought of waiting – the thought of letting Ryo's sweet, chivalrous side win out, had a special sort of allure to it. Kek kissed Ryo; their lips light as spider silk against each other. "I want—"

The snow on the t.v. blazed. Ryo screamed, clutching at Kek in fear instead of lust.

"It's okay. It stopped." Kek petted Ryo's hair. Ryo shook hard from fear. A sick, unsettling feeling coiled in Kek's stomach. Nothing frightened Ryo, but something about the t.v. had terrified him.

"Ryo? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah."

Kek stood up. "It's late. Let's go to bed, okay? You have salt around your bed. You'll be safe there."

"I thought . . . I thought I saw  _him._ " Ryo looked up at Kek, brown eyes wild and desperate. "Kek, I need to ask you a favor. Please, Kek please, if Zorc ever takes over my body – kill me. Promise me."

"No!" Kek's scream shocked even himself.

Tears built up in Ryo's eyes. "You like to kill. You  _enjoy_  it. Don't let me live long enough to hurt my friends."

"I enjoyed killing when I was Marik. Now I just want to be human, and even if I still craved violence . . . not you, Ryo. I'll never hurt you. We  _promised_  each other."

"I kicked you."

"You didn't know it was me." Kek dropped to his knees, hugging Ryo. "Just the thought . . . makes me sick. I'd die before I'd let you be hurt."

Ryo ran his cool fingers through Kek's hair. "That's how I feel about you. That's why I don't want to live if he ever takes my body. It won't be like before. I won't be able to just take off the Ring."

"He's in the Shadow Realm. He can't hurt you."

"Yeah . . ." Ryo frowned, and Kek realized Ryo didn't believe it. They both shivered despite the protective circle of light enveloping them.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Back in Marik's apartment, Marik growled at himself and clenched his hands into fists. "We shouldn't have left them alone."

"Marik, it's okay," Bakura said. He tried to keep his voice mellow, off handed.

"It pisses me off. It's such a stupid thing to fear."

"It's understandable." Bakura crossed his arms over his chest.

Marik snorted at him. He dropped onto the supple leather couch in the center of his living room. "That's really easy for you to say. You fear nothing."

Bakura sat on the chair next to the couch, his crimson-brown eyes locked on Marik. "That's not true."

"Yeah? What is the great Bakura afraid of? Not something stupid like the dark."

Bakura looked away. "It is stupid, and I don't want to say it."

"Not even to me?"

Bakura gave him a wounded look, and maybe it hadn't been fair for Marik to pull that trap card from his hand, but he wanted to know.

Bakura pressed the tips of his fingers into a cage, staring at his hands instead of Marik. "I'm afraid . . . that after trying so hard to end the world, my return here will inadvertently bring about the destruction of everything. Not then when I needed all of existence to unravel, but only now when there's something so important to me that I'd do anything to keep this world from plunging into darkness." He looked up at Marik. "I have to make sure Necrophades never has another chance in this world, Marik – because you don't like the dark."

Marik's mouth dropped open as he stared at Bakura. Neither spoke. Marik jumped from the couch and lunged at Bakura. Bakura stood up in time to catch Marik in his arms. Their lips trembled as they pressed them together. Bakura sunk to his knees on the carpet, taking Marik with him and digging his fingers into Marik's shoulders.

"I can't –" Bakura choked on his own words. "I killed my own heart so I wouldn't have to feel that pain again. Three thousand years of hate, and you damn idiots somehow snuck inside, and if I lost my family again – especially you. Gods, Marik - Ryo too, but especially you. I couldn't bare it. I'll break if I live through that again."

And then, as he held Bakura, the dark didn't seem as threatening to Marik. Horrifying, yes, but not the worse thing to fear, not as horrifying as losing a loved one.

* * *

"Kek." The voice sounded soothing, sweet. Not smooth and white like the feeling of calm. No, the voice calling his name sounded like lavender, soft, comforting, warm, like his mother's hand on his brow, though Kek didn't understand how he suddenly knew what his mother's warm hand resting on his brow felt like.

He opened his eyes, grinding his fist into the corners of his eye-sockets to clear his vision. "Who?"

"Kek, it's me." The woman smiled.

"Ishizu?"

"No, not your sister."

She looked like Ishizu, same eyes and face and long dark hair. Kek stared at her. He remembered a light, musical laughter, but it was impossible. He couldn't know that voice. Marik didn't even know that voice. Kek looked closer. The woman had laugh lines spreading out from the corners of her eyes and mouth. Her stomach had a small pooch that Ishizu lacked. The body of a mature woman – one who'd given birth.

But  _that_  was impossible, and even if it wasn't, she was never meant for Kek. Marik, perhaps, but not Kek.

A new emotion hit Kek – sorrow. He felt himself drawing a step closer to humanity through the feeling, but his stitching didn't hurt. It was something inside. The sorrow in his body reached so deep that it'd never show blood or bruises or even scars, but it dragged him a step closer to being real nonetheless.

Kek could do without it. Tears welled in his eyes. They didn't fall, clinging to his lashes instead of rolling down his cheeks. "I liked it better when you were banging cupboards."

She opened her arms. "My poor child. Come here."

"No," Kek choked out the word.

"Let me hold you."

Never had he put anyone through something as cruel as what he now endured. Blood, pain, monsters, it was all nothing compared to the illusion of an embrace you couldn't have.

"You're  _not_  her."

"But, Kek, I love you."

The tears fell.

"Don't cry. Come here. Let me comfort you."

"You come here," Kek growled, remembering the salt circle around his bed.

She gave him a sad, longing stare, but didn't move. Kek's feet swung over the side of the bed. He wanted to go anyway. He wanted that embrace. What did it matter if she turned into a monster as long as, for a moment, she was lavender and warmth?

Kek couldn't stop shaking. He feared the creature at the door because it knew,  _knew_ , those darkest insecurities and wishes in the mind that one never let surface to conscious thoughts, knew what you wanted badly enough to do  _anything_ for – even if that meant throwing your own soul into the void. Kek threw his blanket over his head, curing into a ball.

"Ra," Kek whispered. "Ra . . . help me."

He was trying to pray, but how does an evil spirit possessing a doll pray?

"Kek, don't you want to be loved?"

"Ra make her go away. Ra make her go away. Ra make her go away."

* * *

"Ryo," the voice whispered, almost sang.

Ryo rolled over and nuzzled harder into his pillows. He'd fallen asleep as soon as the cupboards stopped, but didn't want to wake up yet.

"Ryo."

"No." He shook his head against his cotton pillowcase. Something in the voice brought up sad, sweet memories of childhood, and Ryo didn't want to think about them.

"Ryo, please help me."

"Mom?" Ryo blinked his eyes. His brain protested his efforts to wake up.

"Yes Ryo. I'm lost. Please . . . find me."

Her voice was a memory resurrected. Ryo looked around the dim room, lit up by the snowy t.v. screen. He stood up and turned off the t.v.

"Ryo."

A cold sweat tickled Ryo's neck. His mother's voice had faded into a dream over the years since her death, but here it was again, crawled up from the grave and pleading for Ryo to help. He peeked through his bedroom door into the night-darkened hallway.

"Mom?"

"Please, Ryo, it's dark. I'm scared."

"It's okay," Ryo promised as he stepped into the hallway, but he wondered if that were true.

His mother died seventeen years ago. She was moved on like the Pharaoh. She couldn't call out Ryo's name.

"Where are you, Mom?"

"I'm in the kitchen."

Something was wrong, but Ryo couldn't think straight. The exhaustion from the past few nights muddled his brain. He wanted it to be his mother. He wanted to hug her and talk about stupid things like college and Monster World. He wanted to tell her he had a boyfriend – not a girlfriend – and hear her say that it didn't matter as long as he was happy. He wanted to hug her and cry because he missed her, all those years and he still missed her.

"Where's Amane?" A tear ran down Ryo's cheek.

"We're all here."

"In the kitchen?"

"Yes. Help us. It's dark. We're scared."

"I'll help," Ryo said, his voice cracking.

A creak to his left startled him. Kek's face peeked out of the door, his skin ash and sand, his eyes red-rimmed and raw. "Ryo, don't go."

"Ryo!" Her voice sounded desperate, and Ryo swore he smelled her perfume floating to him. He'd forgotten that smell, how could he forget? Water lilies and hyacinth clinging to a yellow summer dress. Long hair like fresh milk pulled back away from her face with a satin ribbon. His mother.

"Ryo don't." Kek grabbed Ryo's arm.

"Kek, you're shaking?"

"I'm . . . scared."

"Ryo," his mother called from the kitchen.

"It's lying. It's a damn filthy liar. That's not your mother . . . or mine." He said the last part like speaking pushed a knife through his throat.

Ryo couldn't see, his eyes blinded with searing tears. "I know. I know it's not really her." Small, timid sobs squeaked out of Ryo's mouth. He couldn't hold them in. "But I wanted it to be. I did, so badly."

"I know." Kek pulled Ryo into his room, holding him and kissing both Ryo's cheeks. "I know. I wanted to see my mother, too. Even one time."

* * *

The dark raped him. Bakura couldn't scream because of the black cramming down his throat and couldn't cry because the pitch forced itself through the slits of his shut eyes. All the while, Zorc's scarlet eyes watched him, hungrier than ever. A scalding, razor-sharp tongue licked up Bakura's throat.

A pounding against Marik's front door woke Bakura. He gasped and sputtered as he caught his breath. Marik stood up to answer the door; they'd fallen asleep on the couch in each other's arms. Bakura pushed himself to his feet and ran past Marik.

"I got it. It's Ryo."

He threw open the door and saw Kek standing with Ryo wrapped in his arms. Ryo wept hysterics into Kek's chest.

"Hey." Kek looked awkward. "There's a monster under our bed, can we sleep with you?" His efforts at humor only made the rueful, nauseous look on his face more pitiful.

Bakura acted on raw instinct. Not having time to filter himself and shaken from his own nightmare, he threw his arms around both of them and squeezed for a second before stepping back and letting them inside. As soon as he stepped away, Bakura wished he hadn't lost control enough to hug them. He felt stupid for having done it, and he caught Marik's wordless stare as he shut the door.

Marik stood shocked at both Bakura's behavior and Ryo's open grief. "What happened?"

"It's – not . . ." Ryo sucked air into his lungs, fighting his tears. "A poltergeist. It's something stronger."

"Are you hurt?"

Kek shook his head at Marik. "We're fine."

Bakura stood in front of Ryo. "Ryo, is it  _him_?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Ryo sniffed, trying to pull the tears back inside. "It's strong."

"She – it – it tried to lure us into the kitchen." Kek looked away. "Dirty, fucking bastard."

"How?" Bakura failed to hide the desperation in his voice. "What did it do?"

Ryo's little pocket of composure imploded as fresh tears flooded across his face.

Kek kissed the crown of Ryo's head before looking back up. "I woke up to a woman calling my name. I sat up in bed and saw her standing in the doorway. I thought it was Ishizu, but she was older and . . . she." Kek shook his head. "I threw the blanket over my head and prayed to Ra until she went away."

"Why Ra?" Marik asked. He looked sick, his skin a wan imitation to his normal complexion.

Kek shrugged. "I had his card. I merged with the Winged Dragon. I feel . . . closest to Ra, and I needed something . . . holy? To protect myself."

Bakura thought of that. Kek calling on the gods for protection was unsettling, and the thought of feeling close to a god was foreign to Bakura. Horus was his favorite god to curse. Horus was the soul of the Pharaoh. Something more important hit Bakura. If the haunt pretended to Marik and Kek's mother . . . he turned to Ryo and put his hand on the back of Ryo's shoulder.

Marik ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll make some tea – I think I have tea somewhere."

They settled for coffee – black since Marik had neither milk nor sugar.

Bakura snickered as he sipped from his cup. "Seriously, Marik, we need groceries like normal fucking people."

"Oh? You want to be normal? I thought you were better than that."

Bakura let the sarcasm in Marik's voice slide over him as he answered. "Yes, but I'm currently in the most boring RPG campaign ever, and I keep in character." He raised an eyebrow. "Besides, I think I like playing human. It's been so long since I've been anything other than a dark spirit that normality is a dirty kink at this point."

Marik smiled into his cup at that. "Well, I suppose I really should indulge your fetishes, provided you indulge me in mine."

"That could be fun."

Ryo sniffed, weak laughter made his cup tremble in his hands. "You two are crazy." He set the cup on the table and stared at it. He spoke to his cup instead of the others. "I heard . . . her voice, but it wasn't that, any spirit could replicate a voice. I could smell her perfume. I could remember her better than I had since her funeral. No mere ghost should be able to get in my head like that."

"But Kek never saw our mother," Marik said. "Neither of us did. She died when I was born."

"I know, that's what scares me." Ryo drank from his cup. "You haven't, but Ishizu has."

Marik clenched his fist at the mention of his sister. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Bakura rubbed his temples. "Each Item had a piece of Zorc inside it."

"And the Items kept imprints of the memories of each of its users. Just like how the Rod stored memories of Priest Set," Kek muttered.

Bakura noticed something odd about Kek. His knees curled into his chest as he sat in Marik's chair. He held his cup of coffee without drinking it, as if he only wanted the warmth and comfort of it more than the actual drink. He kept reaching his hand out to rub Ryo's shoulder or stroke his hair. The gestures weren't lustful, nor were they the desperate attempt of a construct seeking new sensations. He was comforting Ryo, and rather well. Bakura saw the difference on his former host's face each time Kek brushed his fingers against Ryo's arm.

"Your body language is different."

Kek looked at Bakura. "What?"

"If idiosyncrasies alone defined a human – you'd be more of a person than Marik at this point."

"Bakura, is now the time?" Marik slammed his coffee down on the table. "You're worried about Zorc returning as much as the rest of us. Stop shielding with your damn quips."

Bakura opened his mouth to yell in return, but drank from his cup instead. It was hard to argue when he'd been in hysterics himself hours before. "Whatever."

"We still don't know if it's him. It could be any higher negative spirit," Ryo said.

"You don't sound so sure," Bakura said.

"Well . . . like I said, there's how well it knew our memories. It's not impossible for an ordinary demon to manipulate on that level, but when searching for the answer to any problem the most logical thing to do is apply the simplest solution first."

Bakura gestured with a swoop of his hand. "And in this case, the simplest answer is that when our closing ceremonies didn't send us back to the Shadows, it created a tear in your kitchen from the Shadow Realm to this dimension. Necrophades hasn't returned yet, but he can influence us in hopes of obtaining a new host."

Ryo nodded. "I'm going to try a banishing ritual. It may drive him back enough for the tear to heal naturally." He looked at Bakura, his brown eyes begging. "Bakura, if something goes wrong . . . will you please kill me?"

"No. We already went over this, Ryo," Kek snarled. "Bakura won't touch you either if he wants to live. Anything he does to you, I'm doing to him."

"Ryo, that's insane." Marik held his cup tight enough for his knuckles to turn white.

"Both of you shut up," Bakura said, his voice low but stable. "You don't know what it's like . . . to be part of  _him_. You don't know, so neither of you can make this choice." He looked back at Ryo. "If it ever comes to that." Bakura clenched his hand. "I won't let you go through what I did."

"Thank you," Ryo sighed, closing his lids. Soft, purple circles shadowed his eyes from lack of sleep.

"Nor will I let you perform a banishing ritual alone."

"Bakura. I know what I'm doing."

"Fuck you. It's not going to happen."

"Let's ask Yugi to help us," Marik said.

"Fuck no." Bakura ground his teeth together until the action hurt his jaw.

"I don't want to see him – any of them." Kek shook his head.

"Besides, I can't pull him into danger like that," Ryo added.

"But it's Yugi," Marik protested. "He's the current avatar of Horus. He can summon the gods to his defense if he needed to."

"If he knew how." Ryo frowned. "Yugi beat Atem during the Ceremonial Duel, but he doesn't realize what that means. He doesn't know that he's the new incarnation of Horus, and I doubt he'd know how to help us. The only person out of that group with enough skill in magic to be useful would be Anzu, and I  _refuse_  to put her in that kind of danger."

"Then just let me freaking help you already." Bakura spoke through clenched teeth.

"Bakura, out of all of us, you're the most vulnerable. I can't let–"

"Don't you dare say I'm vulnerable! I survived three thousand years with that thing. I know him better than any of you." He glared at Ryo as he paced across the length of Marik's kitchen. "Stop acting like you're the only person that knows white magic. Diabound was my ka."

"When's the last time you used anything other than shadow magic, Bakura? Three thousand years ago?"

"It's like riding a bicycle."

"Bakura," Marik spoke with a softer tone than he'd ever used with his old partner before.

Kek looked at each of them. "Why not all four of us?"

"What?" both Marik and Bakura asked.

"Whatever that thing is – Zorc or a regular demon – it couldn't cross the salt circle. That's why he tried to get us away from our beds. If we make four circles in the room and connect them with a larger circle, then the tear and anything trying to escape it would be trapped. That would weaken it from the beginning, and with four of us, any spells will be four times more powerful. More importantly, four of us would make it difficult for it to possess any one of us."

"That . . . could work." Ryo thought a moment. " _If_  you guys take this seriously. Holy spells are more difficult than dark magic. You can't just say the words; you have to mean them." Ryo looked at Marik and Bakura in turns. "No fighting, no sarcasm, no hiding your emotions behind a wall. You need your emotions. They're your strength. Could you two do it? Earnestly?"

Bakura scoffed, still pacing. "You know I'll go to any lengths to defeat my enemies."

Marik looked more serious, his mouth a thin line and his jaw tight. "I think I can. Before Battle City? No way, but now . . . I think I'm finally strong enough for that."

Ryo sighed and rubbed his face. "Okay – we'll try it. All of us. It will take me a few days to arrange a proper ritual."

"We need to hurry," Kek said, his voice quiet.

"I know." Ryo nodded. "Since everything started with a few banging cupboards and then progressed . . . that means the tear is getting larger and Zorc's gaining influence in our world. If we don't stop him, he'll be able to come through even without a host."

* * *

*****Bakura, "I have to make sure Necrophades never has another chance in this world, Marik - because you don't like the dark. "**

**Me, "Did ... Did you just say the most romantic shit that I've ever written in a fanfic?"*****


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: The prayer to Ra that Bakura uses is suppose to be a "translation of the Hieroglyph prayer on the wall of the Egyptian tomb of Shepenmut". I think Shepenmut was after TKB's time, but there's no reason we can't assume that the prayer was passed down through written an oral tradition before 900 b.c.
> 
> Four Thieves Vinegar is part of the hoodoo magical practice (fyi, didn't misspell voodoo. It's actually hoodoo). It's used for medicinal reasons and for banishing rituals.

Ryo laid on Marik's sofa. It felt thicker and softer than his bed. He looked down at Kek. "We can switch."

He shook his head no, settling down into a pallet consisting of two folded blankets and a few pillows.

"Are you sure?"

"Goodnight, Ryo."

"Okay. Goodnight, Kek." Ryo smiled. "At least we don't have to listen to cupboards banging, right?"

"Yeah, I just hope we don't hear those idiots banging – I'd prefer the cupboards."

Ryo wrinkled his face. "Maybe we should turn on the t.v."

Kek smirked and found the remote and flicked on the t.v. Some slasher movie came up. Two teenagers screamed until an ax chopped them into pieces.

"This will work." Ryo watched the movie through sleepy, half closed eyes.

"Uh, are you sure you want to sleep to people screaming?"

"Yeah, I fall asleep watching horrors movies all the time."

A few chuckles escaped Kek's throat. "This is why I like you, Ryo Bakura."

A drowsy smile captured Ryo's face. "I like you, too, Kek."

Kek stared at Ryo for a moment as if deciding something. He shifted to his knees, holding onto Ryo's face and pulling on Ryo's top lip with both of his. Kek allowed the kiss to linger a moment before pulling away and sinking back to his blankets.

Ryo licked his lips, savoring the lingering taste of Kek's mouth. He fell asleep soon after. Even if he wasn't exhausted - which his was - the depth of Marik's couch, and the comfort of the movie playing in the background, and the fact that he could look down and see Kek, put Ryo at such ease that sleep came easy to him.

In the morning, Ryo sent Bakura to the store for seven glass containers and a few jugs of purified water (which he went and purchased after a few minutes of complaining). Marik had an 8:00 a.m. class, but Ryo didn't have classes on Tuesday until 11:00 a.m., so he had time to begin preparations for their banishing ritual.

Bakura walked back into the apartment with two bags and two jugs of water. His expression looked grousey. Even his hair seemed perturbed by the way it jutted out above his head. "Okay, I went to the craft store and bought seven glass jars. Why the hell did I buy seven glass jars?"

"I need to consecrate water for the ritual. Normally I'd use moonlight, but since we're most likely dealing with Necrophades, sunlight will be more effective, and I can let it charge all day while I'm at school."

Bakura set everything on the floor. "Well, it's your problem now."

Kek carried the two gallon containers of water in one hand and the glass in his other hand. Bakura rubbed his palms and shot Kek a dirty look when he saw the ease in which Kek carried everything at once.

"Sorry, Bakura," Ryo said. "Two people should have carried all that, but we're still in our pajamas so I didn't want to go outside."

"Whatever. Anything to get you back into your own apartment." He smirked. "I don't like being quiet at night."

"I'm going to throw up in your hair!" Kek shouted from the kitchen.

Ryo ignored them and went into the kitchen. He divided the water into each container, and pursed his lips. "The spell would work better if I had some gold to sit in each jar."

A smug expression grew on Bakura's face, similar to a cat as he licked the blood of a fresh kill off of his whiskers. "I could steal some."

"Yes Bakura, stolen gold will be great to use in a holy spell."

"Damn Ryo, first profanity and now sarcasm. I really have been a bad influence on you."

"You really have."

"Here." Kek removed the gold bracelets from his wrists and handed them to Ryo. He rubbed his bare wrist for a moment. "I keep taking them off, but I always end up putting them back on for some reason. I don't know why."

Ryo offered a sad smile. "Thank you."

Kek shrugged and removed his bangles, choker, and earrings as well, a piece for each jar. Ryo set the jars in a line on Marik's windowsill with the blind pulled up and the window drawn. The three of them stared for a moment in silence. The sight of seven gold items, though different from the  _Items_ , made them thoughtful of the past.

"We should ask a deity to bless the water," Ryo said. "Preferably a sun god."

"Well go for it." Bakura gestured to the seven jars.

Ryo scratched the back of his head, frowning. "I usually only pray to my ancestors and Kannon." He looked at Kek. "You prayed to Ra last night, didn't you?"

Kek jumped, as if Ryo asked him to do something painful. "Not really. I asked him to make that damn thing go away because I was about to lose it. That's all."

Ryo frowned. "I guess I could try to look something up on the internet?"

An aggravated groan burst from Bakura's mouth. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled for a moment before murmuring, "I remember a prayer my father taught me."

"Oh." Ryo blinked, his mouth dropped open. Bakura told him stories of his days as a tomb-thief, but never could bring up his family. "Please, Bakura, I know this is asking a lot but . . ."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He sniffed before standing before the jars.

For a instant, there in Marik's kitchen with the sunlight washing his hair bright platinum, Bakura's cinnamon-colored eyes were the eyes of a lost child – one who'd ran away and wanted to go home, but didn't know the direction. He held his breath and closed his eyes, exhaling as if it were a great burden on his lungs to do so.

" _O Ra,You God of Life, you Lord of Love,_

_All men live when you shine._

_You are the crowned King of the Gods._

_The goddess Isis embraces you,_

_and enfolds you in all seasons._

_Those who follow you sing to you with joy,_

_and they bow down their foreheads to the earth_

_In gratitude for your radiant blessings._

_O Ra, You the King of Truth, the Lord of Eternity,_

_The Prince of Everlastingness,_

_You Sovereign of all Gods,_

_You God of Life, you Creator of Eternity,_

_You Maker of Heaven._

_All the Gods rejoice at your rising._

_O Ra, You giver of all life,_

_The Earth rejoices when it sees your golden rays_

_People who have been long dead_

_come forward with cries of joy_

_to behold your beauties every day._

_You go forth each day over Heaven and Earth._

_O Ra, God of Life, you Lord of Love,_

_All Men live when you shine –_

_And dark gods like Zorc die in agony while being_

_forced back into their own crappy dimensions._ "

Ryo lifted an eyebrow at the last stanza.

Bakura pressed his hand over his heart. "Completely authentic Ancient Egyptian prayer." He lips curled up. "You know how much you can trust me."

Ryo shook his head and found a piece of scratch paper and jotted down a list. "When Marik comes home, I need you each to pick an herb from this list and go and get it."

"You're a real bitch when it comes to fetch quests, you know that, right?"

"Gotta grind before you fight the boss, Bakura."

"Yes, because fetch quests are known for rewarding so well with XP."

"I need to make Four Thieves Vinegar for the ritual. I mean, normally I wouldn't bother, but that name suits our group rather well, don't you think? There's a lot of power in the right symbol."

Kek chuckled. "Ryo, what have you ever stolen?"

"Your virginity." Bakura snickered.

"Shows what you know," Kek shot back.

Ryo felt his face burning from ear to ear. Bakura noticed and chuckled a sardonic  _kukuku._ Ryo grabbed Kek's arm and pulled him towards the front door. "Come on, Kek, we need to get clothes from our place."

They had to go back to Ryo's apartment. They left all their clothes, bath products, and Ryo's homework behind when they fled the apartment the night before. They walked to the elevator in their pajamas.

Ryo glanced at Kek through his peripheral vision. "I stole the Ring from Yugi after Battle City."

Kek turned to look at Ryo. "Why? I mean, why didn't Yugi give it back to you in the first place?"

"He treats me like his little brother, like a child that doesn't know knives are sharp. I mean, he's a good friend, but . . ."

Kek clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "They underestimate you."

Ryo sighed. "That's nice of you to say, but I guess I see where they're coming from—"

Kek snatched Ryo's chin with his thumb and forefinger and turned Ryo to face him. "They underestimate you. Don't you do the same to yourself."

Ryo's pale lips twitched into a smile. "Th-thanks, Kek."

They continued down the hallway to Ryo's apartment. Ryo felt sheepish when a well dressed woman in a navy pants suit snubbed them in the hallway.

Kek whistled when they walked into the living room. "Someone threw a tantrum."

Inside, every knick knack lay shattered. The pictures sat in broken frames on the carpet instead of the walls. The television lay on it's side beneath a pile of torn books. Everything in the apartment was either misplaced or damaged. They stayed away from the kitchen.

"Fucking asshole," Ryo cursed. "Hope he enjoys the holy water I have sitting by Marik's window."

Kek gave Ryo a side glance and a grin. "Have I ever mentioned that you're quite attractive when you're angry and vindictive?"

Ryo rolled his eyes, but he smiled nonetheless. "Guess we better gather our stuff."

They walked side by side. At Kek's door they stopped and looked at each other.

Ryo dug a toe into the carpet. "I'll . . . just stay here while you get your things, and then you can go in my room with me when I get my things?"

Ryo didn't want to admit it, but the thought of being alone in his apartment for even a moment sent a shiver down his spine. Standing beside Kek made him feel safe. Alone, every draft would feel like cold, misty breath against the nape of Ryo's neck.

Kek nodded. He rummage through the clothes scattered along the floor, packing what he wanted in the shopping bags he'd brought them home in. Kek looked at Ryo and pointed to his bed, a little ruffled from being slept in, but otherwise unmolested. Ryo nodded. It was a good sign, it meant Zorc still couldn't breach the circle of salt.

Afterward they went to Ryo's room. Ryo bit his bottom lip and held his breath when he saw a chest pulled out and dumped over. A specific chest. One made of cedar. He pushed the grief low into the pit of his stomach, but the tears trickled down his cheeks against his will. Kek stood in front of him and feathered the tears away from Ryo's cheeks with soft touches of his fingertips.

"Ryo," he whispered, leaning in and kissing the tears his fingers missed.

"Everything," Ryo said between sobs, "I have of my mother and sister was in that chest." Ryo sank into Kek's arms, needing an anchor to keep himself from drifting out in the sea of his own grief and losing himself. "He can break all my stuff, but why can't he at least leave their things alone?"

Kek set Ryo down on his bed, careful not to disturb the circle of salt around him. He kissed Ryo's forehead and combed tanned fingers through Ryo's colorless hair. "Sit here."

Kek up-righted the chest and repacked the items with a gentle care that would look out of character to someone who'd only seen Marik's other half during Battle City. He picked up a little, crude doll with white hair and displayed it for Ryo to see.

He nodded. "Yeah, I made that for her fourth birthday. I made it to look like her."

He refused to think about how it'd been her last birthday.

"Good thing for me your parents let you sew. As the heir to the Ishtars, that asshole would have never let Marik learn a task meant for serving-women." Kek admired the doll. "She looked like you."

"Yeah, except her eyes were green like my mom's."

Kek set the doll in the chest. "I wish I had my mom's eyes." He clenched his teeth. "I wish I didn't look like  _him_."

Ryo settled beside Kek, placing a brief kiss on his jaw before they finished putting Ryo's mementos away together. "At least nothing looks broken."

"See? Don't cry."

Ryo felt Kek's lips on his before he realized what they were doing.

"Don't cry," Kek whispered into Ryo's mouth.

Ryo closed his eyes as they kissed. "I'm okay."

"You always say that."

"I'm really okay."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I'll trust you, then." Kek kissed him a final time and pulled away.

Ryo sucked in a breath. "I need to pack."

He crammed random clothes into a duffel bag. It was the week before dead week, so he didn't care what he wore. Everything went with blue jeans anyway.

"I guess we should shower real quick. Do you want to go first?"

Ryo frowned. "Don't . . . don't leave me alone. I'll scream if I have to be anywhere in this apartment alone."

"He won't touch you." Kek ran his hand over Ryo's hair. "I'd become the Winged Dragon again, and obliterate him if that's what I had to do."

Ryo smiled, but still looked nervous.

Kek kissed the crown of Ryo's head again, took him by the hand, and dragged him into the bathroom. A devil's grin played on his face. "Though, I won't mind the show."

"I guess I am breaking the clothes-stay-on rule." Ryo unbuttoned his pajama top.

Kek licked his lips. "Sorry, can't hear you. Distracted by you stripping."

"Yeah?" Ryo had the sneaky grin of a fallen angel caught being mischievous. He circled his hips as he slowly pulled his pants lower. He gave Kek a brief peak of white public hair before sneaking his pants back up and running his fingers over the cotton before he started his faux strip tease again.

All focus drained from Kek's stare. His heather eyes clouded with lust and curiosity. "I see everything is white."

Ryo giggled. "Well, you're all blonde."

A light dusting of mauve graced the high, round curves of Kek's cheeks bones. "How do you know?"

"The first night when I bandaged you, remember?"

"Yeah, now I do. I'd forgotten."

Ryo removed his pants all the way and leaned over Kek to turn on the shower. With his skin so close to Kek's lips, the other male couldn't resist taking a playful nip out of Ryo's ribs, ending it with a long kiss over the same spot. Ryo gasped and shuddered.

"Even that's all white." Kek grinned, referring to Ryo's growing erection.

Ryo blushed – not a wisp of mauve, but a full-faced flush – as he tied his hair into a knot. "I better hurry so you're not late for work."

As Ryo washed, Kek brushed his teeth and undressed. They switched places and Kek showered while Ryo brushed his teeth and dressed. He kept his hair in a knot, not caring about his looks. Kek would be at work, and Ryo would be at school, and afterward, they'd both go to Marik's place and work on homework and spells. He couldn't bring himself to look nice when he knew there'd be no dates or kissing on the floor.

After Kek dressed they carried their stuff back to Marik's place. Kek leaned towards the kitchen, as if he wanted a peak before they left.

"Don't," Ryo pleaded.

Kek looked back at Ryo. "He's never done anything in the daylight before."

"True, still . . . I – you're going to be late for work."

Ryo liked scary things. Slasher flicks, and Lovecraft, and summoning games at three in the morning with possessed dolls that may strangle you or kiss you, but he didn't want to face Zorc unprepared. Ryo remembered the dreams he saw through Bakura's mind, buried alive in darkness and haunted by eyes sanguine and unforgiving.

They didn't talk about it. They dumped their things at Marik's place and went on with their days. When everyone was home in the evening they gathered the herbs they needed for the Four Thieves Vinegar and then went home for dinner. Ryo made Yakisoba, wanting comfort food. They sat around Marik's table and ate.

Marik snorted before taking a bite. "This reminds me of when Ishizu and Rishid visit. It's the only time I ever use the kitchen table."

"Then why do you own it?" Bakura asked.

"For when Ishizu and Rishid visit."

"Make them eat off their laps in the living room and watch anime like civilized people."

Marik smirked. "You are free to make that suggestion the next time they visit, Bakura."

Bakura chuckled low in his throat. "When are you telling them you have a roommate?"

Marik groaned. "After finals. Definitely after finals. Also, after we don't have to worry about a dark-god induced apocalypse. Which is hopefully at the same time, because they like to visit during our winter holiday."

Kek frowned. "Tell me when they visit so I can stay far away."

"No, no, no," Bakura purred in his most dulcet tone. "If I have to suffer Ishtars for the holidays, so do you, Kek. Welcome to humanity. Hope you like it."

"You didn't kill any Ishtars. They'll accept you easier than me."

"I tried to kill Ishizu's precious Pharaoh."

"Who hasn't?" Marik said in between bites. "I have, Kek has, you—"

"Don't forget Seto," Kek added. "They were training me on the electric chair ride, and there's actually a switch that makes the chairs live. It needs a key, but it's still fucked up that they let kids ride on those things."

"I told you he built that whole amusement park to kill Yugi before I moved to Domino," Ryo said. "It's a shame I wasn't there. I would have loved to play along. Except for the fact that two employees died. That part makes me sad even though I never saw them."

"And you  _work_  for that asshole?" Marik looked at Kek.

Kek shrugged. "Only two fatalities? A little better than counterfeiting Ra, don't you think?"

Marik looked sick. He set his fork down and pushed his plate away.

Kek's expression teetered between remorseful and unrepentant. Ryo looked at them, his mind racing for a change in topic. The only thing he could think of was how nothing brought people together like a common enemy.

"You know, I've studied everything odd and paranormal I could about Domino City. Before I moved here, there was a rash of violent murders and cases of madness . . ." Ryo stared at his cup. "I think Atem did it. Some of the deaths match some of the stories I've heard the others tell when they talk about  _the good old days_."

"So wait." Kek smacked his hand on the table, a gesture of expression rather than anger. "You mean to tell me the Pharaoh was basically a serial killer?"

"I . . ." Ryo nodded. "I think so. Kinda . . . yeah."

"Then why do people call me sadistic?"

"Because history is written by the winners," Bakura said. He sat back in his chair. "So why did Marik and I have to purchase sage and lavender again?"

"We're making a vinegar that will help banish whatever haunts my kitchen. We each have to put an herb into the jar of vinegar and garlic I prepared before dinner. The sooner the better. It needs to sit for at least four days before it's any good for magical use."

"Let's do that now."

Ryo couldn't help but feel that perhaps Bakura was meant for white magic. The way he pulled the conversation back on point, knowing the perfect prayer to consecrate their holy water, and how he'd noticed the change in Kek's body language before Kek himself realized it. Circumstances drove him to violence during his original life, the darkness in the Ring corrupted his soul, but here, in the sanctuary of Marik's apartment, Bakura's potential snuck through his indifferent facade like a thief sneaking past tomb-walls.

* * *

*****I'm just saying, go back to the early manga volumes and do a death count - Yami Yugi kills more people than any other yami. You can justify it. You can say he was trying to protect Yugi, but then how is that different than Yami Marik killing his dad? And let's not forget that Bakura was only putting people into comas when Yami Yugi was setting them on fire. This is kinda why I hate the Pharaoh, because when Joey's shoes got stolen revenge was totally cool (and the guy behind that ended up dead), but Bakura being upset about the massacre of his village and the desecration of both their bodies and souls is somehow bad? Pharaoh please.*****


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Banishing ceremony. More importantly, Kek gets a puppy.

Lavender, sage, wormwood, and mint, they each placed an herb into a bottle of white-wine vinegar and minced garlic. Ryo screwed the cap onto the bottle and shook it up, setting it next to the seven jars of water. At night, they kept the jars under a lamp to absorb more light. "Friday. Midnight. That's when we'll banish him."

They spent the week studying, working, watching Narruto, and trying to stay out of each other's way, although Marik's apartment wasn't big enough for that. Ryo gave them some basic material to read, texts about Fung Shui, Hoodoo, banishing rituals, various Pagan texts, and basic white magic. Bakura ended up reading everything out loud since Marik refused to study for anything that wasn't his upcoming physics exam.

Friday found them in Ryo's kitchen. Rotten food smeared over the walls, counters, and floors. Flies buzzed around a chunk of green, rancid meat laying near the fridge.

Marik hid his nose behind his shirt. "I might be sick."

"We have to clean this first." Ryo grabbed his broom.

Bakura stole Marik's phone from his back pocket.

"Uh, Bakura, that's mine."

"Ours, remember?"

Music blared from the phone. Bakura wiped a clean spot on the counter and made a small salt-circle for the phone to sit in as they cleaned. With four of them it didn't take long, even with things flying at them and trying to slow them down. The table, chairs, appliances, everything was damaged and had to be removed. They lined the refrigerator and oven with salt, so Zorc couldn't try to move them during the banishing ritual.

When the kitchen was clean, they used sea salt to draw a circle in the kitchen with additional circles in the north, south, east, and west. Ryo pointed to each circle as he spoke. "Bakura north. Marik south. Kek east. I'll take the west."

"Why am I the turtle?" Bakura scowled.

"Because you have a hard outer shell, you're a protector, and you represent winter."

"I think we should swap. I'm much more chaotic than you, so I should be the tiger."

"I want you opposite of Marik."

Bakura glanced at Marik. "Yeah, guess I might as well have eye candy during this show."

Marik gave a little bow at Bakura's comment. Ryo ignored them as he finished preparing for the ritual. In the center of the room, in another circle of salt, Ryo sat the Four Thieves Vinegar. "Let's consecrate the room."

They lit candles and used fresh cedar branches to sprinkle the blessed water around the kitchen. They chanted mantras and after, they stood in their individual circles and looked at each other.

"Okay Bakura." Ryo nodded.

Bakura wrote  _Zorc Necrophades_  on a piece of paper. He dropped the paper into the vinegar and screwed on the lid. Bakura walked back to his circle and clenched his fists. "Necrophades. Leave."

The walls trembled. Goose pimples pulled the skin on Ryo's arms taut as the temperature dropped. He hugged himself and shivered as his breath rose from his lips like dragon-smoke. The over head light flickered and died.

Marik cursed out of reflex, but then he held his hand out. "I'm okay. I'm okay. Bakura stay in your damn circle. There are candles. I'll deal."

Bakura visibly relaxed. By his expression, Ryou could tell that he'd been ready to leap to Marik's side the moment the light blinked out. The candles warped their shadows against the walls.

Ryo furrowed his brow. "Zorc Necrophades, you're unwelcome here. Leave."

The candles flared, their flames stretching long and tall. A shadow appeared before Ryo, blackness and a suggestion of crimson eyes, but Marik didn't balk at the dark, so Ryo held his breath and focused on the others instead of the shape.

Marik's jaw grew taunt. "Zorc Necrophades, get out of our Ryo's kitchen."

The shadows along the wall shifted, blending and changing into the body of a beast.

Kek screamed at the image. "Zorc Necrophades, go back to the Shadow Realm and stay there!"

The candles dimmed. The sputtering flames fought to stay lit. A shrill, metallic noise threatened to burst the drums in their ears. All four of them pressed their hands to their skulls, desperate to mute the sound.

Then it was over. The room sat quiet. The candles flickered. The shadows quivering against the walls were only their own.

"Is it . . . over?" Kek asked.

"Did it work?" Marik asked right after Kek.

Ryo looked at Bakura. He walked to the center of the room and lifted up the bottle of vinegar. "The paper's gone." He looked at each of them. "I think it worked."

"Thank the gods." Ryo dropped to his knees, trembling now that it was over.

Kek ran to Ryo and knelt beside him. He ran his fingers through Ryo's ivory hair and kissed Ryo's ivory forehead. Ryo looked up at him. They brushed the tips of their noses together. They pulled back a moment, but it wasn't enough. They needed more touching. Ryo nuzzled against Kek's throat and teased the tip of his nose along Kek's cheek bone. They knelt in the kitchen together, oblivious of their surroundings and lost in the softest touches of their fingers and faces. Ryo couldn't stop and didn't want to. He sighed with great relief, no longer fearing the shadows blanketing them.

Two sardonic chuckles echoed down to them. "Well, you two look busy, so we'll let ourselves out."

"Bye, Marik," Ryo murmured into Kek's neck. "We'll get our stuff tomorrow."

"For the record," Bakura said. "The power of friendship is still bullshit, and Zorc's a bitch."

"Sure, Bakura." Ryo laughed, flicking his eyes at their smirking faces for an instant, but preferring Kek's caramel skin and golden chaos of hair. "Good night you two."

After they left Kek lifted Ryo up and carried him to the living room.

Kek lay Ryo down beside the torn and ripped sofa. Ryo couldn't see the cushions, and thanked which ever god listened that Zorc didn't have enough sense to flood the apartment in his fit for attention. Thoughts of his apartment disintegrated as soon as Kek poised himself above the paler male.

"I don't think I've properly kissed you in a few days," Kek said.

"Slacker, you better make up for lost time."

Kek teased Ryo back by kissing the tip of his nose. "There. Fixed it."

"You're so mean." Ryo pouted.

"That's one of the nicer things I've been called in my life."

Ryo swept his fingers across Kek's cheek. "Let me fix that. You're funny. You're gorgeous. You have good taste in movies, and you put up with my anime obsessions. It's only been a week since I've meet you, but we've already been through so much that you've become my favorite person to be around."

Kek's cheeks glowed coral as he looked away. "Stop it. You're making my stomach queasy."

"Then shut me up." Ryo gave Kek a playful, daring laugh.

He lowered himself down to Ryo's mouth, kissing him with soft, fleeting sweeps of his lips. Ryo licked his lips and reached his head up, encouraging Kek to press his mouth harder against Ryo's. Kek complied, and Ryo moaned in delight. Content, eager noises poured from Ryo's mouth. Each time they broke apart to look at each other, Ryo smiled.

Kek pulled his tank top over his shoulders and dropped his shirt onto the floor. Ryo thought of their already broken no-clothing rule, but Kek's eyes bore into him, and Ryo said nothing in protest. His hand reached up and caressed Kek's bare skin. The body beneath felt more like muscle and less like rice than their first night in the hallway. Everything about Kek felt and tasted more human . . . except he still didn't have a heartbeat. It made Ryo sad, and perhaps it was that reason above all others that made Ryo keep his own shirt on – even as he kissed and sucked at Kek's chest. Ryo touched the bandage covering his healing gash, and then touched the last remaining section of thread.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but Kek eventually pulled back and ran a finger along his own bottom lip, grinning. "Starting to feel like our first kiss."

Ryo blushed and stared at the torn sofa beside them. "Yeah, guess we've been going at it for a while. I'd suggest we play games instead, but everything's trashed. Maybe we should just go to sleep for the night?"

"Sleeping in a bed again sounds nice." Kek sighed, an odd, wistful look lingered on his face. "Especially without banging cupboards or asshole evil entities, and no, the irony of that isn't lost on me."

"I don't think that term applies to you anymore, Kek." Ryo sat up, his expression serious. "You told me not to underestimate myself, neither should you. You're not evil – not at all."

Kek snorted, poking at a bit of stuffing seeping out of a tear in the couch.

"You're not." Ryo touched the golden bracelet's back on Kek's wrists. "Does it hurt?"

"What?" Kek blinked at Ryo.

"The jewelry. Does it hurt to wear it?"

He shook his head.

"See? This gold has been soaking in holy water and absorbing Ra's light. Kek, you're covered in white magic."

Kek frowned, staring at his tomb-keeper accessories. "People can still be evil. Sunlight and water wouldn't hurt a human, and my body is more flesh than doll at this point."

Ryo shook his head. "I still don't think you'd feel comfortable in that jewelry if you were a bad person. You'd come up with an excuse to take it off by now, but you seemed eager to put everything back on as soon as I unsealed the jars."

Kek twisted the bracelet around his wrist. His frown sank into something brooding and pained. "I still don't know why I wear these damn things."

Ryo touched the bracelet that Kek worried with his fingers. "Because you want to be human, and humans have roots."

Kek's heather-colored eyes considered Ryo until a grateful expression replaced his previous frown.

* * *

Kek liked his job. Each morning he stared at a wall of prop-weapons and chose an axe, a chainsaw, or a good ol' fashioned knife, and a blood-stained costume. His co-workers were all crazy.  _Crazy._ And this came from an actual crazy person. Sometimes they'd slip bags of faux blood under their costumes and have mock battles for the customers to watch during their roller coaster ride. Other times they found niches in which to hide in order to jump out, weapon waving, and send children and adults screaming and running to the next level of Death-T.

He shouted at a group at the moment, trying to terrify them. A small, eight-year-old boy walked up to him and kicked his shin. Kek lowered his cleavers – he had one in each hand – and stared at the boy. He didn't know if he should growl at the kid or laugh, but then he realized another voice kept crying for her brother to run away. Kek looked up and saw a girl a few years younger moping tears off her face with a stuffed, velveteen rabbit.

Kek did the only practical thing. He looked at the eight-year-old dead in the face and dropped his cleavers. "You're too strong. Ack!"

Kek fell over, playing dead until the older brother was able to get his sister safely to the next level. When he stood back up and retrieved his weapons, a horrible scream echoed throughout the graveyard. Kek sheathed his cleavers in his boots and looked around, trying to deduce which one of his insane co-workers was the source of the prank. Everyone looked busy operating rides or dealing with customers, so Kek investigated the sound.

A knot twisted at his stomach as a ridiculous thought nagged at the back of his head – that Zorc managed to return somehow and the screams would change to Shadows, and then everyone running around, screaming, and having fun, would be lost and drowned.

He didn't like the thought. At one time he would have cackled in glee at sacrificing everyone to darkness, but that was before he understood amusement parks, and co-workers you only wanted to kill with a fake knife, and blueberries, and a boyfriend, and now Kek wanted the world to spin, and go on, and live. There was too much he didn't know about yet. Ryo promised to take Kek to the beach in the summer, and make cocoa and cream puffs dripping with chocolate ganache during winter holidays, and there was still sex and being able to taste food without sucking it from Ryo's lips, though he didn't mind doing that at all. There was even the hope, hidden deep, deep, behind his stomach, that maybe, just maybe, when Ishizu visited that perhaps she wouldn't scream when she saw him, because maybe Ryo was right and deep down Kek wanted all of humanity and not simply to live. He didn't want to feel guilty every time he wore his bangles and earrings. He didn't wear them at the moment. Gold, dangling earrings did not match a blood-soaked apron and chef's hat.

Kek continued to follow the shrill screaming until he stood near the beginning of the graveyard. Inside an open grave whined a Shiba puppy, white and cream colored and miserable.

"Well, stupid, why'd you jump down there?" Kek asked the puppy as if it'd answer.

It whined more, scratching at the side of the grave. Kek jumped down and scooped the puppy up to look at him. "If you pee on me, I swear to Ra I'll turn you into a pie."

The puppy licked his nose.

"Stop that," Kek growled. "Gods, you're as bad as Ryo." He hid the puppy in the wide pocket in his apron and climbed back out of the grave.

"You found a puppy!" Haruko, one of his co-workers, ran up to him.

Two long, bright magenta pig-tails stuck out from each side of her head. She wore knee-high, white socks and black shoes and a dress that was supposed to make her look like a creepy doll, but all Kek could think was  _bitch please_  whenever she wore that outfit.

She reached out her hand to pet the dog, but the little ball of white and tan growled when she neared him.

"You're so mean!"

She pouted in the high pitched voice girls used that grated on Kek's nerves. Kek snickered at the frown on Haruko's face.

"Guess he thinks you smell bad."

"Keku, you're a jerk!" She snorted and stomped away.

Kek only laughed and waved. She got mad at him at least three times a day, but always ran to him every morning, ruffling his hair, and calling him "big brother". She had no idea that, once upon a time, that behavior was a quick way to get her neck snapped.

As soon as he neared the patrons, the puppy growled again, baring his teeth and slicking back his ears. Kek made sure he kept as much distance as he could from the growling dog and other people.

"Where'd you get a dog?" A zombie, who's name happened to be Tomi, asked.

"Dug him out of a grave." Kek smirked, trying to act like the puppy was part of his costume.

"Better put him outside. If he bites someone, we'll all get in trouble."

Kek nodded. He was already on his way to the back where they took lunch breaks and changed into their costumes. When you wielded a Millennium Item and hurt someone – you laughed. When you didn't have an evil, magical artifact of incredible power and hurt someone at work – you filed paper work. Kek wasn't stupid, and he didn't want the dog to bite anyone while sitting in his apron pocket.

He went outside via a side entrance near their time cards. He lifted up the puppy and stared in his fluffy, little face. "Well, have fun, pup."

The dog cried, the same high-pitched yips that made Kek find him in the first place. Kek frowned and stared at the dog. "Well, it's your own damn fault. Haruko probably would've taken you home and spoiled you rotten had you not growled at her." Kek growled himself. "Don't look at me like that! I don't know how to take care of anything! You'll be dead in a week!"

The Shiba cried louder. Kek . . . couldn't abandon the puppy in an alley. He couldn't. He pressed the puppy against his chest and patted the cream-colored spot on its head. The dog quieted and licked Kek's hand. Kek exhaled in frustration. "Dammit dog, you're fucking retarded if you think this is going to end well."

Kek looked left then right, as if the puppy police may have been watching him, and then snuck the dog back into the building. He stole into a maintenance closet and found an old jumper to use as a mattress pad. He also found a container that would serve as a water bowl until Kek's shift ended in two hours. "Mutt, if you get caught because you cry when I leave then it's out of my hands. This only works if you shut the fuck up for a few hours until I can come back and get you."

The puppy licked Kek's hand one last time, giving Kek a small yip. Kek went back to work, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. It was a ball of fluff, who cared it if cried? Apparently Kek did.

He made a mental note of things he'd have to purchase; food, dishes for both food and water, a leash and collar, at least a few toys. What if Ryo didn't like him? Kek realized he  _wouldn't_ abandon the mongrel, even if that meant finding his own apartment. It was that important. It was that important and Kek wasn't even sure  _why_  it was important. Maybe because something finally liked Kek. Ryo didn't count. Ryo and he were bound by magic, and Kek still wondered about how that affected his feelings towards Ryo, but the mutt like him without complication.

No, not "the mutt". Kek's puppy would also need a name. Kek frowned . . . names were identity, they were part of the Egyptian soul. It was in that odd moment that Kek realized part of why he was different compared to Battle City had nothing to do with Ryo at all – it happened when he finally received a name, a  _ren,_ a piece of soul other than Shadow.

After work, Kek changed and went back to the closet. When he opened the door the puppy ran to his feet and yipped. Kek picked him up, secured him in his hoodie, and slipped out the back door. "Come on Kurimu. We're going home."

* * *

*****Kurimu is supposed to mean "cream", but considering the luck I have with online dictionaries it probably means bicycle.*****


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Random thoughts about this chapter: Limes and fluff and gay brunch, oh my.

Ryo squealed in delight when he saw Kurimu.

"Careful, he doesn't like people. He growled at everyone at work, and on the way home, and in the store."

Ryo let the puppy sniff his hand and then started scruffling the top of the Shiba's head. "Aww, you're not half as grouchy as Bakura, are you little puppy? No, you're a little angel."

"Kurimu." Kek said, somehow not surprised that Kurimu accepted Ryo without question. That seemed right somehow.

"Huh?"

"I named him Kurimu . . . Ryo, is it okay?"

Ryo looked up at Kek, still fussing with the puppy. "I should tell you no. I should tell you it's too much responsibility, and the pet deposit is too expensive, and that I won't have time to help you walk him, but..." Ryo sang the "but" like it was a magical incantation. "I only have so much willpower, and right now it's being used up each night when I kiss you while keeping my clothes on, so let's just keep the puppy and have ice cream for dessert tonight."

Kek wrapped one arm around Ryo; his other arm held Kurimu. Kek kissed Ryo's lips and grinned. "Good, because I already bought him food and toys."

They took Kurimu to the park that evening for one last bathroom break and spent a good deal of the night playing tug-o-war with him in their living room. When it was time to go to sleep, Kek shared his bed with the puppy. Kurimu curled on his chest more like a cat than a dog. Kek's fingers strayed over the soft fur; he felt calm and thoughtful. He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until a warm tongue against his cheek woke him up.

"No," Kek muttered and turned over.

The only reward for his efforts was a nip and then Kek remembered he had a puppy who probably needed to use the bathroom. Kek stretched and groaned and scratched his head.

"Yeah, yeah." He patted Kurimu's head and stumbled to the light switch. He glanced at the clock. "Six a.m.? Really? I'm leaving you at the park."

He walked the dog and stopped by a bakery on the way home for a cup of steaming hot coffee and a couple of pastries. Coffee was still his favorite flavor, and he yearned to taste it fully as he sipped from his cup. He left one of the two pastries on the table for Ryo to find before his morning math final and let Kurimu explore the living room while Kek went to take a shower. Ryo had to throw away almost everything he owned after Zorc trashed his apartment, but Marik had insisted – despite Ryo's myriad, polite refusals – on replacing everything, since he was the one that caused the tear to begin with. It was inappropriate, how well they all got along, how often they found excuses to play games as a group or continue their never-ending Naruto marathon.

The second and third mornings went the same. Kek would work throughout the day, come home, walk Kurimu again, and return to Ryo making dinner. Then in the evening, they both went on a final walk before they returned home to play games or watch t.v. (which usually involved little t.v. watching and more making-out) until it was time for bed.

On the third night, Kek lay hidden under his comforter and curled up beside Kurimu when a strange realization stole through his thoughts.

He loved the little cream and white puppy.

It was odd . . . to accept it, but no less true if he accepted it or not. Kek really thought, when he took Kurimu home the first day, that he'd somehow fuck up and end up killing the dog. Kek was a monster, after all, or at least still thought of himself that way. A dark spirit of violence possessing a doll. He touched the last few centimeters of string sewing his body closed. He thought he'd be human by this point. Everything changed so fast at the beginning, but the last stages seemed impossible to reach. He thought the banishing ritual would get rid of some of the thread, or at least getting along with his co-workers, but nothing seemed to change the last length of thread into blood and flesh.

Nevertheless, Kek  _felt_  like more of a person now than he had that first night. No length of string or dulling of his senses could rob him of that, and Kurimu proved an important point. If he loved the dog,  _he_ , Kek, himself, then his emotions weren't mere magic-induced projections from Ryo. Ryo didn't wake up in the morning to walk Kurimu, nor did he feed him. Knowing Ryo he already did love the little Shiba - there wasn't much in the world it seemed Ryo didn't love, but Kurimu was undeniably Kek's puppy. He slept on or by Kek every night. He only let Kek touch him that first day at Death-T while he growled at everyone else.

Until that moment, Kek still feared his feelings toward Ryo weren't his own. Were they Ryo's affections reflected back on him? Was it subconscious echos of Marik's feelings towards Bakura manifesting themselves in Kek's consciousness? Was his longing for a mother or other family the same? Just an echo from Marik? How could he know? How could he know what was his and what was leftover from others? He had nothing to compare it to.

Perhaps Ryo had put a spark in Kek when he made him, but what Kek did with that initial light was his and his alone.

Now that he knew, knew and understood love, his chest hurt. Kek crept out of bed, trying not to wake the puppy and went to the bathroom. He'd realized his emotions all at once.

They were  _his_ emotions. He felt them on his own and not because of magic. He  _loved_  his puppy. He  _loved_  Ryo. Marik  _was_  his brother. Bakura  _was_  his friend, despite the fact that they never said a single nice thing to each other.

He realized his emotions all at once, so the last section of string bled all at once, all the way to the top.

He was used to cleaning and bandaging his own cut at this point, so it wasn't difficult to doctor the last section of thread-now-wound, but something else hurt in his chest. Even after he'd stopped the bleeding he stood, leaning against the counter with his free hand pressed over his lungs.

After what felt like a life time of agony, Kek felt something stir in his chest. It was similar to the feeling of one's heart skipping a beat, only for Kek, it was his heart's first beat.

A single thump and silence.

After a moment, another thump.

A shorter pause before a third.

Kek gasped for air, eyes closed, his mouth stuck between gritting his teeth in pain and grinning from joy.

He kept his hand on his chest, feeling the steady, living rhythm. His heart. He was alive. Perhaps he'd really become human before that. Perhaps he'd been  _human_  since that night they sat in Marik's kitchen and Bakura teased him for his body language, but now he was alive to match his humanity, and now he knew the difference between magic and emotions, and he had both.

He pushed himself away from the counter and ran to Ryo's bedroom, too excited to wait until morning. Kek wanted Ryo to feel the heart dancing in his chest.

"Hey Ryo, guess what? I—" Kek looked away as soon as he saw Ryo, naked and spread open wide like a white lotus. "Sorry, uh, sorry. I should have knocked."

Ryo let go of himself and yanked the covers over his naked body, face red as fresh-peeled beets.

"I – I should have knocked," Kek repeated. His new-found heart beat fluttered in him as if it had sprung wings. Not just from the surprise, or the embarrassment, but because his mind wanted to replay the three seconds of what he saw in a continuous loop.

"Kek? Are you okay? You have more bandages," Ryo asked in a breathless voice as he hid under his blanket to cover himself.

Kek reached behind his back to find the doorknob so he could leave Ryo alone, but since he refused to look up, he couldn't find it. "Yeah, I do, but I got it bandaged myself, so I'll leave you alone."

"Um, Kek?"

"I'll knock next time."

"Do . . . do you want to help me?"

All the air rushed out of Kek's lungs. He swallowed a moan before it could embarrass him. Licking his lips, Kek managed a nod. "Damn right I do." Kek rushed the bed and jumped. He regretted it as soon as he landed and felt the tug on his bandages and stitches.

"Kek, be careful!"

He ignored the pain and grabbed Ryo's hand, pressing it against his bare chest. "This is why I barged in."

Ryo's eyes brightened and a smile covered his face. "Your heart's beating."

"Yeah, I'm alive now."

"That's fantastic. We should tell the others."

Kek grabbed Ryo's shoulders so that Ryo couldn't move. "We can tell them in the morning."

Ryo's face physically couldn't get more red, otherwise Kek suspected Ryo would have blushed more. "That's right, I did say that once you were completely changed over that we'd . . . we'd . . ." he looked at Kek, brown eyes eager and a little lost. "Is that what you want?"

Kek shook his head. He drew his mouth close to Ryo's.

A strangled breath chocked out of Ryo's mouth, and it reminded Kek of when he throttled Ryo. The memory hurt him. He reached down and kissed Ryo's throat. The bruises healed, but Kek still felt bad for having caused them. Ryo moaned as Kek's lips traveled across his throat. He eased back into his mattress and pillows, shifting the cover down so Kek could see the entity of white that was Ryo's body.

Kek smiled at the sight and allowed his kisses to wander lower, over new areas never before experienced by his lips - chest, nipples, navel, hip bones. Each new area kissed made Ryo cry out in a delightful way that had Kek near busting out of his sweat pants. He'd never realized how soft Ryo's skin felt against his lips until that moment, never realized how good Ryo smelled, or how the salt tasted off his body. Kek lost himself in sensation, savoring each new experience.

Then, slender white fingers worked against the knot on the drawstring of his pants, swift, deft, and fervent. Seconds later, Kek found himself naked in Ryo's lap. They grabbed each other, their groans loud and desperate in their ears. Ryo felt good in his hand, hard and thick, and Kek was relieved that he'd been experimenting in the shower so that he didn't feel like a complete novice. This moment would have been  _inconceivable_ in his mind during Battle City, but now it was all he wanted.

They tried to kiss, but they breathed too hard through their mouths and only managed to moan at each other between faint brushes of their lips. Kek knew he should lay down, spread himself wide so Ryo could do more than touch him, but the moment felt too good, Ryo's hand slipping up and down Kek's shaft felt too good, and Kek couldn't move, or stop, or vocalize a single damn thought. Instead, he rocked gently in Ryo's lap until Ryo called out with a sharp, wonderful cry and spilled sticky heat over Kek's hand.

Acting on instinct, Kek licked the mess off of his fingers. He smiled when he noticed the hazy, aroused stare on Ryo's face as he watched Kek's tongue work. Ryo's hand kept a steady rhythm. Kek moved faster in Ryo's lap, bucking his hips and leaning back until he felt Ra's holy flames consuming his entire body in fire.

He crumpled against Ryo's chest when it was over. Ryo leaned into him in return and they sat there, supporting each other as their breathing slowed.

"You're heart's definitely beating now," Ryo cooed into Kek's shoulder. "I can feel it thumping against my chest."

"Can I stay the night?" Kek asked. "I want to stay like this."

Ryo nodded, nuzzling Kek's shoulder.

"Um . . ." Kek tried to do his best I'm-too-cute-for-you-to-say-no-to-me look. "Can I get Kurimu?"

Ryo giggled. "You big teddy bear."

Kek kissed the side of Ryo's neck. "Please?"

Ryo laughed harder. "That tickles. Stop manipulating me and go get your puppy."

Kek thanked Ryo with a soft bite where he'd been kissing, then Kek went to the bathroom to clean up before he carried the Shiba pup from his room to Ryo's. Kurimu whimpered a moment, but when he realized they were going back to sleep, he accepted the new environment without further complaint. Ryo's bed was warm, his mattress a little softer than the bed in the guest room. Kek started dozing the moment all three of them settled.

As he lay in Ryo's bed, with Kurimu snuggled on his left and Ryo on his right, he couldn't stop himself from whispering. "Ryo?"

"Yeah?" Ryo murmured, more asleep than awake.

"I know for sure now. I thought I did the first week, but now I know for sure."

"Know what, Kek?"

"That I love you."

Kek opened his eyes a crack so he could see the surprise on Ryo's face. For a moment, Kek feared Ryo would look away, reject him somehow, but Ryo's face softened and he smiled. "Good, because I love you, too."

* * *

Ryo didn't wake up when Kek slipped out of bed to walk Kurimu, but he noticed when they crawled back under the covers. More asleep than awake, Ryo turned towards them so he could press himself against Kek's cold body and warm him. A little, content moan slipped out of Kek's mouth and Ryo smiled before drifting fully back to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, sunlight struck the walls and furniture in the room, gilding everything. Ryo yawned and stretched, feeling incredible. He'd almost died of embarrassment when Kek busted through his bedroom door the night before, but when he saw the rest of Kek's chest bandaged up, Ryo was too happy for him to kick him out. Ryo had been willing to go as far as Kek wanted. He had, in fact, fantasized about doing much more to Kek as he stroked himself before Kek interrupted. Yet once they had their hands on each other, Ryo became stuck in the pleasure of the moment and couldn't bring himself to stop long enough to do anything else.

Ryo shifted to a sitting position and glanced at Kek. He gasped when he looked at Kek's face. The difference between doll and human was subtle, but made a stark difference in Kek's appearance. Kek lay curled at an awkward angle to avoid Kurimu, his hair sprayed out around his features in a fountain of sun-spun gold. His face glowed with serene contentment, a Pre-Raphealite painting living and breathing in Ryo's bed. Spellbound, Ryo leaned over and stole a kiss from Kek's ruddy lips.

Kek kissed back, waking up as he did. "Ryo?" He blinked.

"Good morning, Kek."

"Will you make coffee? I want to taste it."

"Yes." Ryo grinned. "Yes. I'll make whatever you want. Are you off today?"

Kek nodded.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"Uh, something that goes with coffee?"

Ryo laughed and kissed the corner of Kek's mouth. "Okay. I'll think of something."

Ryo started tossing ingredients into a bowl. He wanted to make coffee cake, and then had an idea. He grabbed his phone and texted Bakura.

"Go to the store and buy me a pint of blueberries and I'll share the amazing breakfast I'm about to cook."

He was pulling eggs, cheese, spinach, and mushrooms out of the fridge for omelets when Bakura texted him back.

"You and your fucking fetch quests!"

"Hey, you keep saying this is the most boring RPG ever. You should expect infinite fetch quests."

"I'm only doing this because I'm sick of toast for breakfast."

"Thanks!"

Ryo put up his phone and heated a wok in which to cook his omelets. Kek stumbled into the kitchen once the smell of coffee started drifting throughout the apartment. Ryo poured him a cup and set it on the table in front of Kek's favorite chair.

"I told Bakura and Marik they could come over if they brought blueberries."

Kek smirked. "You just wanted to play Monster World."

Ryo shrugged. "And make you a blueberry coffeecake."

A strange,  _happy,_ look replaced the smirk on Kek's face. "Thanks."

When Marik and Bakura walked into the kitchen, Kurimu attacked Bakura's pant leg, trying to goad Bakura into a game of tug-o-war. Bakura tried growling at the Shiba pup, but Kurimu growled in return, thinking it part of the game.

"Don't drop the blueberries playing with the puppy, Bakura." Ryo took the bag from Bakura's hand, but otherwise offered no help.

"Make this thing go away."

"But he loves you." Marik snickered, going into the kitchen to steal a cup of coffee. He looked around the kitchen, and then at Ryo. "So . . . still no problems?"

Ryo finished folding the last omelet before he answered. "Nope. Everything's been great here. We really got rid of him."

Marik sighed, visibly relieved. Kirimu finally gave up on getting Bakura to play and ran off to find Kek. Ryo mixed the batter and folded in the blueberries. "Are your finals over?"

Marik nodded drinking from his cup.

"So, have you talked to Ishizu yet?"

Marik winced. "Yeah, I was able to convince her to postpone her visit until summer breaks."

"Wow, how? I can't imagine her being willing to give up a visit."

"It wasn't easy. She's been having nightmares about Zorc." Marik sighed. "Which I'm sure is my fault. She had the Necklace, after all. Even without it, she's very intuitive. I had to mention I was living with someone to get her to agree to visit after next semester."

"Does she know who?"

Marik shook her head. "I tried hinting, the best I could, that it wasn't a girl. I figured I shouldn't shock her with everything all at once. At least this way, she can get used to the thought of me being gay before she has to handle the fact that our other halves are back."

Ryo gave Marik a sympathetic nod. "Yes. That's probably best. Bakura and Kek will be a shock to her. What about Rishid?"

Marik looked sheepish. "I didn't have to tell him much. He figured it out on his own. I guess Ishizu's nightmares plus my news was all he needed to know more or less what happened."

Kek, who'd gone back to his room for a top when the others showed up, walked back into the kitchen with Kurimu snuggled in his hoodie similar to Kiba and Akamaru.

Marik blinked when he saw Kek. "You're . . . different."

Kek grinned. "I'm me."

"What? Did Ryo finally sleep with you?" Bakura snickered from behind them.

"Bakura," Ryo scolded. "That's  _not_  how humanity or magic work."

Bakura only laughed and sat down at his spot next to Marik. This wasn't the first time they'd all had breakfast at Ryou's since the banishing ritual. In fact, as Ryo served breakfast, he realized they'd turned Sunday brunch into an accidental habit. They each had their own spot at the table. They even used the same mugs each week. Monster World followed and then they'd watch Naruto before Marik and Bakura went back to their own apartment. The former partners in crime still argued non-stop, but Ryo hardly noticed anymore. It became a background noise, as endearing as Kek talking to Kurimu and the little Shiba yipping out a reply.

Ryo smiled, drinking hot tea and eating his omelet as the smell of baking coffeecake overpowered his tiny apartment kitchen. As he watched Marik, Bakura, Kek, and Kurimu – trash talking and bantering over their breakfast as they passed the coffee pot or sugar canister across the table to each other – Ryo couldn't help but think that if they were in a story, that this would be the perfect spot for a happy ending.

* * *

*****AN: Don't tell me how to do my job, Ryo! I'll end the story with lemons, not coffeecake. Speaking of lemons – next chapter – Deathshipping lemon – finally. Bugger plot (actually, important plot-like things happen in the next chapter as well).*****


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lemons, snowballs fights, and plot in that order

"Ryo, look!" Kek called from their bedroom window.

They'd yet to go all the way, though Kek's heart started two weeks prior. Every night they fooled around, and every night they grew too eager. They'd progressed as far as fellatio. Twice Ryo even prepped Kek, using his fingers to stretch Kek, but both times Ryo's fingers scraped against Kek's nerves and he'd begged for head instead because he didn't want Ryo to stop touching him inside. Kek exhaled, remembering. Heat bathed his face from his thoughts.

He'd never managed to leave Ryo's room afterward. Kek had developed the strong opinion that beds were meant to be crowded. He should get Ryo a puppy of his own, and then they'd have a properly full bed. Each day it seemed a few more of Kek's things managed to find their way into Ryo's room until it became their room. Ryo even started hanging Kek's clothes in the closet next to his own clothes.

He felt Ryo's arms slip behind his waist as Ryo peeked out the window. "Oh, it's snowing."

Kek grinned, fascinated by the specks of white. "I've never seen snow before."

"Here." Ryo pushed the window open.

Cold sucked at their bare arms, pulling gooseflesh from their skin, but Kek ignored his shivering and leaned outside. He held out his palm and watched the flakes melt against his dark skin. Kek tried licking one before it melted, but the dot of white was too small to register on his tongue.

"If it keeps up, we can take Kurimu out tomorrow and play in it."

Kek nodded. He backed away from the window so he could comb Ryo's snow colored hair. Ryo reached up and pulled Kek's head down for a kiss. They closed the curtains, but left the window open and the blinds drawn to let the fresh air into the room. Ryo set a chair next to the window and sat down. Kek straddled him. Their clothes slipped away from their bodies quiet as snow fall; they only broke their kisses to pull the shirts over their heads.

Tonight. It had to be tonight. With the cold, fresh air baptizing their skin, and the subtle, indescribable scent of snow sanctifying their bedroom. In front of the window, separated from the outside world by only a curtain panel, they needed to make love.

Ryo seemed to have the same idea. He saturated his fingers with lube and went straight to prepping Kek before their caresses sidetracked them. Kek lifted his ass a little and rode Ryo's fingers as his legs straddled on either side of the chair.

Ryo muttered soft, sweet things that Kek couldn't fully catch over the sounds of his gasping breaths, but he caught the sentiment and understood Ryo even without specific words. Ryo used his left hand to coat his erection, moving slow and awkward since he was right-handed. Kek lifted away from Ryo's fingers and shifted, sinking his weight down on Ryo's penis. Kek groaned as he pushed all the way down until he felt his ass cheeks press against Ryo's thighs.

He sat a moment, catching his breath, trying to get use to the odd sensation, and then he pulled up half way. Ryo gave a little cry and that encouraged Kek to slide back down. Kek used Ryo's shoulders for balance and kept his feet planted on the floor. Ryo held Kek's ass to help guide him as he moved. Their bodies gleamed with sweat, reflecting the gentle light coming from the bathroom down the hall. Otherwise it was dark and quiet like the evening outside.

"Ho-how does it feel?" Ryo asked, polite as ever and concerned for Kek.

Kek answered him with a kiss as he continued his slow pulls up and down. Ryo moaned into Kek's mouth, squeezing Kek's ass a little tighter.

It felt strange and a little like he rode a hot poker, but there was also a yearning for more that kept Kek moving up and down. Each time he lowered his body, he felt everything inside him open and shiver. Something needy swelled inside his belly and demanded  _more more more_ , but he couldn't give more, not yet. He was still adjusting.

Ryo didn't seem to mind the slow pace. He continued to make soft, crying noises, leaning over and kissing either side of Kek's chest. The lower bandages were gone, but the last section still had gauze taped over it.

Ryo reached down and grabbed Kek's shaft, his hand still wet from prepping Kek. This time Kek called out, clenching his muscles tighter around Ryo's girth. Kek leaned back a little to give Ryo more room and realized the different angle put pressure on different nerves inside his body. If he moved a certain way, the sensations on his down thrust were sharper, more needful.

He moved a little faster, reaching his left hand behind him and pressing his palm just above Ryo's knee so not to lose balance as he leaned back. Kek matched his circling hips to the pace in which Ryo moved his hand. The fingers on Kek's right hand dug hard into Ryo's shoulder as Kek held his breath and exploded between their bellies. Kek leaned forward, spent, thighs shaking and calves sore from continuous motion.

Ryo nudged Kek's face up so they could kiss for a moment. Kek gasped when Ryo lifted him up and dropped him on the bed. He never realized that Ryo was strong enough to pick him up. Then, Ryo was on Kek and inside him once again with the silent efficiency of a snow leopard hunting. He paused in order to douse Kek with addition lube. The gel felt like a cool, healing balm against Kek's hot skin. They moved, and moved, and cried out as the wind shifted the sheer, white curtains and dusted Ryo's carpet with snow. Ryo screamed Kek's name.

* * *

Kurimu whined when they set him down in the snow. When he realized Kek wasn't going to pick him back up, he sniffed around, marking snow drifts and exploring a line of hedges bordering the apartment complex. Kek and Ryo stood side by side, watching the Shiba and sipping coffee out of paper cups from the shop down the block. Ryo's coffee was barely brown because of all the milk and sugar, but Kek's was black.

Ryo smiled. "I liked it better when you drank it from my lips."

Kek leaned close to Ryo. Their noses bumped together. "I still can."

Ryo closed his eyes, but before Kek's lips could take his own, something wet and cold smashed into their faces. Ryo pushed the snow off his cheek and out of his hair, looking around but seeing only snow and shrubs.

Another snowball landed in Kek's hair. He growled and shook his head to free his hair of snow. They took cover behind the row of hedges. A snowball missed Kurimu by an inch and the dog yipped at the corner of the building.

"Bakura, you hit my dog and I'll slit your throat and paint the snow with your blood!"

A gloved hand extended from around the corner showing them a middle finger.

Ryo leaned close to Kek, whispering in his ear. "Where's Marik?"

"Right here." Marik's voice sounded behind them.

Ryo had enough time to turn around, but Marik shoved a fist full of snow into his face before he could react. Ryo gagged and spat snow from his mouth while blinking it out of his eyes. While laughing, he tackled Marik to the ground, and Kek used the opportunity to shovel snow on top of Marik's head.

Marik turned his head and closed his eyes, screaming. "Shit! No, that's cold! Bakura!"

Three snowballs arched over the hedge. One caught Marik and the other two missed. Ryo made his own snow ball and tossed it over the hedge when he saw Bakura running towards them. It wasn't so much a snowball fight as a four-way snow splashing, since no one had time to compact the snow into actual balls. Kurimu ran in circles around them, barking at them as they continued their mock battle.

"Fuck snow. I hate the cold." Marik jumped up and tried to brush the snow off his clothes.

"You started this!" Ryo shouted, panting from laughter and their snow war.

Bakura shrugged. "You were getting a little too cozy out here. Someone had to chaperone you."

"You mean cock-block." Kek looked around. "And you bastards made me drop my coffee."

Kurimu ran up to him and he scooped the puppy in his arms and tucked the dog in his coat. Ryo found their tipped over cups and put them in a waste basket. He couldn't stop shivering. His clothes were soaked through with both sweat and melted snow.

"I think I'm going up stairs and taking a hot shower," Ryo said.

"What? No breakfast?" Bakura acted offended.

"Assholes that throw snowballs at us buy breakfast - although by the time you come over it'll probably be lunch." Ryo walked inside and the others followed him.

"What am I buying?" Marik asked as they crowded into the elevator all at once.

Ryo pushed the third floor button for himself and the fifth floor button for Marik. "Sushi. Kek's suppose to show me how much wasabi he can handle."

Marik smirked. "Sure, watching Kek make a fool of himself is entertaining. I'll order it after we shower and change into dry clothes."

Bakura's lips curled back away from his teeth. "Hmm, yes, we haven't fucked in the shower yet. Good idea."

Ryo rolled his eyes, and Kek glared at Bakura in a way that suggested he'd been thinking the same thing until Bakura ruined it by claiming the idea for himself. The elevator stopped at the third floor and they stepped into the hall.

"See you guys in a few hours." Ryo waved as he and Kek walked to their apartment.

* * *

With Kek working but Ryo out of school, Ryo started walking Kurimu in the afternoons and then cooking dinner before Kek came home. That way they could spend the entire afternoon together before they walked Kurimu one last time and prepared for bed.

Ryo went to the park and watched children play in the snow as he walked the dog. Next, he went to the market to buy ingredients for super. He decided on leek and potato soup and then mousse for dessert. He wanted a dessert that he and Kek could lick off of each other's fingers, and if Ryo added instant coffee to the chocolate then Kek would love it.

Ryo hummed as he walked home, a shopping bag in one hand and Kurimu's leash in the other. The last time he'd been so happy was before he lost his mother and sister. Ever since Amane died, there'd been a loneliness in Ryo he could never avoid, and while he still missed her, so much it hurt, he didn't feel alone anymore. Now he had Kek, and Kurimu, and even Marik and Bakura. It amazed Ryo to see the difference in Bakura. He was sardonic as ever and always crossed his arms over his chest as if to ward himself away from the group, but Ryo noticed when he snuck scraps to Kurimu, or leaned a little too close to Marik with a content smile on his face, or got into a game with such intensity that it infected everyone and they'd lose hours of time before they stopped for the night. When Ryo wore the Ring, the only emotions he ever felt from the tormented spirit was rage, hatred, pain, and a sorrow cut so deep into his soul that Ryo never had the heart to fight for control of his own body as much as he should have.

But now Ryo watched as Bakura's soul healed as quickly as the the gash on his chest. He'd always have the scar - they all had their scars - but at least the wound no longer bled. Ryo couldn't imagine Ishizu protesting when she visited in the summer, not once she saw how happy Marik was around Bakura. Before, Marik wandered around campus looking bored and a little sad, but now he always smiled. He and Bakura both smiled. It was amazing.

Kek's transformation was no less miraculous. Not only with his personal changes, but how he treated Kurimu as well. Kek even managed to teach Kurimu to stop growling at people and let children pet him at the park, which made walks much easier. Ryo supposed that all any of them needed was an environment where they didn't have to always be on guard, where they could trust people without fearing physical or emotional harm. Ryo's hum turned into a song, some ridiculous love song he'd heard on the radio that made him think of Kek. Ryo had to stop in front of his door to fish out the set of keys and let himself inside.

Kurimu barked at the threshold, refusing to go inside. Ryo tugged on the leash a bit.

"Come on boy, we have to make dinner for Kek before he gets home."

Kurimu lowered himself to the ground, flattening his ears and growling.

"Kurimu, what's wrong with you?" Ryo looked into the apartment.

Everything seemed okay, so he turned back to the dog. He whistled to encourage the puppy to come into the apartment, but Kurimu continued to growl.

Ryo sighed. "Fine." He looped the leash over the doorknob. "I'll put the groceries up and then carry you inside. You never give Kek this kind of trouble."

Ryo checked the living room first, to be sure Kurimu wasn't sensing something Ryo couldn't see, but nothing stood out of place or felt off. Ryo turned back around and carried his shopping bag into the kitchen. He set the bag on the counter and went to go get the Shiba pup when a shadow caught the corner of Ryo's eye.

He spun, expecting the shadow to disappear – it didn't. Ryo shrieked and jumped back on reflex.

The Shadow grinned, inching forward, red eyes burning into the back of Ryo's mind. Ryo turned and bolted out of the kitchen, feeling stupid for not understanding Kurimu's obvious warning. The Shadow, Zorc's Shadow, blocked Ryo's path to Kurimu and the exit, so Ryo had no other choice but to sprint towards the bedrooms. If he could reach one of the beds the salt around them would protect him.

Ryo stretched his hand out for Kek's door, but something caught his hair and jerked him back. The ground leapt away from Ryo's feet as he crashed onto his back. Ryo struggled to sit up, but the Shadow creature dragged him by the hair down the hallway and back into the living room. He sat on Ryo's chest, pressing him into the ground.

Ryo fought, like a caged wolf he fought, but Zorc only laughed at Ryo's efforts.

"Bakura will kill you!" Ryo spat into the shadowed face, words his last means of defiance.

A grin peeled away from Zorc's face, a look made of teeth and malcontent. He didn't answer; instead, he covered his mouth over Ryo's as if to kiss him. Zorc pushed himself down Ryo's throat and inside his body. It was Ryo's nightmare, the dream he had of Bakura in the shadows, trapped and drowning in dark. Tears coated Ryo's cheeks, hot as stars, but everything else inside him withered and died, replaced with cold, empty black.

* * *

Kek knew something was wrong. The door stood open. Kurimu's leash dangled from the knob, but the Shiba was gone. Kek ran inside. "Ryo?" he called out, screamed. "Ryo!"

He saw Ryo sitting on the living room floor and surrounded by his sewing basket and cloth. Ryo ran a silver needle through pitch-colored fabric and hummed to himself as he worked. Kek new it wasn't Ryo, not anymore than his mother had been his mother. Kek crashed to his knees, tears burning his eyes.

"Ryo!" Kek screamed in Ryo's face, as if his voice could somehow reach Ryo if he shouted loud enough.

The thing, the not Ryo thing in Ryo's body, looked up with coffee-brown eyes and smiled. "Hello."

"Ryo, come back. Ryo you have to come back!"

"You're hurting me." Ryo said the words in a calm tone as he continued to sew.

Kek blinked his eyes, confused. He realized his fingers dug into Ryo's shoulders hard enough to bruise the skin. He forced himself to let go, gently holding Ryo's face instead. "Ryo. Ryo, I know you can hear me. You need to come back. Stop underestimating yourself and come back!"

A soft laugh, so much like Ryo's laugh –  _exactly_  like Ryo's laugh.

"You know, that banishing spell you used was a nasty trick. Had I been fully in the world it would have worked, too. Lucky for me the tear wasn't yet and I only had an arm in this plane. It worked towards my advantage, actually. You all thought I was gone, so I simply waited in the Shadows until the tear opened enough for me to slip through."

He forced his face down out of Kek's grip and went back to stitching. "This game, however, this game fascinates me. I used to watch him pull my thief away from my grasp every night and talk to him. I watched through the television." A smirk. "But I'd always get my thief back in the end."

Ryo's tone darkened, his whisper became a hiss. "My thief. Mine. I've held him for three thousand years. That tomb keeper had no right to steal what is  _mine_."

He leaned towards Kek, close enough to kiss. "You're mine, too, but don't worry, I won't take you back to the Shadow Realm. I'm going to bring the darkness here instead." He giggled. "Once I get this doll finished, play the game, and come back into this world just like you two did."

Kek shook his head. His stomach burned as acid boiled into his esophagus. "Bakura will kill you. They'll find a way to seal you away again."

That sweet, musical laughter (Ryo's laughter) and Kek's love looked up at him again. "That's why I have you, isn't it? Why do you think I chose this frailer one? Because you love this boy and that makes you easy to control. You'll protect me as long as I'm in his body."

And Kek could only kneel on the carpet as silent tears singed across his cheeks because he knew what Zorc said was true. He loved Ryo - more than his own life, he loved Ryo - and even knowing it was Zorc, even knowing that the world would drown in black if not stopped, he couldn't sit back and watch Ryo die.

"Don't worry," Ryo cooed, running bone-white fingers across Kek's lips. "I'll be Ryo for you."

He leaned in to kiss Kek, but Kek pushed him away.

It didn't detour Necrophades. He simply pouted with Ryo's gentle mouth. "But Kek? Don't you still love me?"

"I love Ryo," Kek growled, trying to think of something to do, some ritual or prayer he could use to save his love.

"I'm all that's left of Ryo." He leaned in again.

"Hey!" Bakura's voice broke through the apartment.

Kek held his breath, thanking and cursing the gods in the same thought.

"Why did your dog start scratching at our door all freaked out?"

"Bakura don't!" Kek pleaded before Bakura realized what happened.

Bakura stopped, stared at Kek, stared at Ryo, and drew a switchblade from his jean pocket. "Fuck."

"Bakura, no." Kek stood, placing himself between Bakura and Zorc.

"Kek, you know what Ryo wanted – you  _know!_ "

"There has to be another way. There has to be an exorcism we could perform or a spell—"

"Kek. I won't enjoy this. You don't know how—" Bakura's voice broke. "How hard this is, but we don't have time for something else. He's making a doll, Kek. You know what he's planning. It's not about us!" Bakura screamed. "It's about everyone, everything. He'll destroy it all. You know he will."

"I definitely will," he said in Ryo's cheerful voice. "And after this world, even the gods won't be safe. I'll have it all."

"Get Yugi," Kek pleaded, his mind that desperate. "He always thinks of something."

"Yes, please bring Yugi over." Ryo smiled, the same smile he got when he saw pastry. "It will be fun to play with him again."

"It's not Ryo," Bakura hissed but didn't move.

"Ryo's still  _in_  there!" Kek insisted. "Just like you were when you were trapped in the Ring."

"Yes. He is. And he's begging us to kill him!"

"Fine!" Kek roared. "Kill him if you can, but you know you'll have to get through me first!"

Bakura grit his teeth. "If that's what I have to do, then I will."

"Then I hope you're ready to die, Bakura!" Kek charged him, fingers curled like claws ready to rip out Bakura's throat.

In the burst of seconds between Kek and Bakura, a dozen different memories flashed in Kek's mind. Blueberries and anime, the warm, tickling lick of a puppy's tongue against the palm, or the not-quite-there smell of snow, his co-workers, his first real kiss in the hallway, strangers in the park jogging as he walked Kurimu, Monster World campaigns with Ryo, Bakura, and Marik.

He got it; he understood. He never comprehended the determination of his opponents' faces in Battle City, could never fathom why they fought so hard, but now Kek knew that everyone had their own versions of the same story. Some had pets and some had lovers and some had friends, everyone had a breakfast they remembered, or a time they tried something new and enjoyed it, or a night they stayed up talking about nothing with whoever was special to them. That's why they fought, to keep those things alive.

But if Zorc returned there'd be no blueberries, or kisses, or strangers jogging in the park.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't let Necrophades consume all the beautiful moments people compiled together in order to create their lives.

Kek acted – everyday he acted to scare people – he'd gotten good at it, so when he blitzed Bakura, acting ready to kill, Bakura responded on reflex and jabbed with his knife. Kek pushed his body into the blade, holding Bakura's shoulders to ensure the edge sank deep into his own gut.

"You're right," Kek whispered into Bakura's ear as everything faded into fuzzy black. "It's not about us . . . it's about everyone, and I can't let him drown everything in Shadows, but still . . . I can't watch you hurt him either. I love him."

"What the hell?" Bakura choked on the words. "Why didn't you fight me!"

"Because, Bakura, you need to do it . . . you need to kill him . . . and, and take care of Kurimu."

Kek felt himself fall, and although it was hopeless, his last thought was a prayer to Ra that - somehow - Ryo could be saved.

* * *

*****AN: Sorry where I ended this.*****


	14. Chapter 14

Zorc wasn't like Bakura. He didn't hide Ryo in the subconscious to shield Ryo from what happened. No, Zorc kept Ryo's mind close to the surface so Ryo could see Kek's tears, so he could hear Kek's desperate pleas – and do nothing about them. Ryo tried. He wanted to fight. He wanted to take control and kiss Kek until the tears dried, but Ryo wasn't strong enough.

Relief overwhelmed Ryo when Bakura arrived. He regretted having to die, but knew it was the right choice. All the happiness he'd felt in the last few weeks, the beautiful joy that Ryo'd cherished since meeting Kek, could go on living for others as long as Zorc Necrophades never made it into the world.

But then Kek ran into Bakura's knife on purpose. Zorc didn't understand, but Ryo did. Kek didn't want to be manipulated. He didn't want to shield Zorc by protecting Ryo, but he couldn't bare seeing Ryo hurt either, so he decided to take himself out of the equation – sacrifice himself just as Ryo wanted to be sacrificed.

When Kek hit the floor, Ryo screamed.

He had to go to Kek.

He had to hold Kek and put pressure on the wound.

He had to make sure Kek didn't die!

Necrophades resisted, fought to maintain control, but Ryo was beyond believing, or hoping, or trusting that it'd work out like it always did before. Something tore in Ryo at the sight of Kek bleeding on the ground.

He pushed Zorc out, screaming until his vocal cords responded to his will instead of Zorc's. Once in control of his body, Ryo gagged. He pressed his hands and knees into the carpet, choking, and retching, and pushing Zorc out until thick, black liquid poured from his mouth. He vomited the entire Shadow out of his body. It shrieked in rage. The sound pierced the air, loud enough to shatter all the glass in the room before Zorc escaped back into the kitchen. Glass-fragments snowed down on Ryo's hair, and he knelt on the floor, trying to catch his breath.

"Kek!" Ryo scrabbled on his hands and knees until he reached Kek.

He pulled the knife from Bakura's hand and cut Kek's shirt to examine the wound. Ryo pressed the excess cloth against the hole to slow the bleeding. Bakura stood above him and watched, pale and in shock.

"I – I can't fix this. Cut's too deep." Ryo gasped, willing himself not to hyperventilate, not to break down. Later,  _later_  when it was over he could unravel, but his current focus was Kek and nothing else. "Bakura, call an ambulance. Now!"

* * *

They'd put a cotton ball and square of tape over Marik's arm where they'd drawn the blood. Kek needed a transfusion and Marik was the best match since they were brothers – as far as the hospital knew and as far as Marik was concerned. They had to lie. Ryo told the police and paramedics that someone broke into his apartment. It explained the broken glass and Kek's lack of I.D. (since the mystery robber made off with Kek's imaginary wallet). Marik made a mental note that, when he did explain everything to Ishizu, he needed to see if he could get her to obtain proper paperwork for Kek the same way she had to for all the tomb-keepers after the Pharaoh passed to the Other Side.

They sat in the hospital waiting room, florescent lights casting them all in sterile, off-white light. Marik and Bakura held hands. They didn't acknowledge it; they just did it. They needed the support. They didn't fight, bicker, or exchange a single facetious comment to each other. They sat quietly, staring at the floor and holding hands.

When Marik did look up, it was to glance at Ryo. Ryo sat with cloth, thread, and needle in his lap. His hands shook with violent tremors, but his stitching was tight and perfect.

"Ryo," Marik whispered after some time. "What are you doing?"

"Sewing a doll," Ryo answered, and something in his voice made Marik shiver.

"Why are you finishing that thing?" Bakura hissed.

"Because, regardless of how this turns out, I'm going to go home and play Zorc's game. I'll need the doll to summon him."

"Are you crazy?"

Ryo looked up at them, eyes too bright for being such a dark shade of brown. "He wants a game and he's going to fucking get a game. I'll summon him and then I'll send him straight back where he belongs. Don't you see? It's not Zorc we need to fight. We need to fix the tear between the Shadow Realm and our world. The only way to mend that is to finish the closing ceremony Marik and I never could. The only way to do that is to play one last time." Ryo clenched his hands and went back to his stitches. "I'm not standing aside anymore as the people I love get hurt. I'm never . . .  _never_  going to watch from my own body without acting again."

Marik swallowed. "Ryo, what if – what if he posses you again?"

"He can't." Ryo spat out the words. "It was my greatest fear and it happened and I conquered it. Zorc can't touch me anymore."

Marik looked at Bakura. Bakura looked back, but didn't say anything. It made Marik mad somehow, the silence, the helpless feeling of sitting there.

"I just hope . . ." Ryo whispered, but couldn't finish the sentence, so he buried himself back into his sewing, stabbing the cloth as if Zorc could feel each pierce of the needle.

Marik balled his free hand into a fist. "He'll be fine, Ryo. Kek's an Ishtar; we're stubborn."

A fragile wisp of smile graced Ryo's lips. "I think he'd be happy to hear you say that – although he'd probably hide it by calling you an idiot."

"He's an idiot," Bakura grumbled to the floor. "Only an idiot would run into a knife."

"It's my fault." Ryo clenched his teeth and pressed his eyes shut. "I should have never let him think that self-sacrifice was an option."

It took two hours before a doctor spoke to them. A handsome woman in her fifties with her hair pulled into a tight, meticulous bun considered her clip board before looking at them. "Mr. Ishtar?"

Marik stood up. He felt guilty that she addressed him when it should have been Ryo, but that would have been uncomfortable to explain, so he stood there and waited for her to speak.

"The knife missed his vital organs, but there was extensive internal bleeding."

Marik couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything. His mind shut down, trying to dissociate out of the experience. He managed a nod as he forced himself to stay in the moment.

"However, I think we managed to stop it. We expect him to recover."

Ryo excused himself and bolted down the hallway. Marik caught Bakura's eye in a sideways glance and Bakura nodded, disappearing in the same direction.

* * *

Bakura found Ryo crouched in the bathroom and having a minor nervous breakdown. Thick, suffocating shame blanketed Bakura at the familiar sight. It was the same response Ryo had every time a new friend went into a coma. At the time, Bakura thought it was fun to put spirits in dolls. In his own way, he thought he did Ryo a favor and the boy simply didn't understand the benefits of having living souls for toys. Perhaps he had changed . . . since then. Collecting souls wasn't something he'd do now. Perhaps this was who Bakura always was before fires and Items drove him mad with grief and rage.

Bakura walked to Ryo, circling around him in order for them to be face to face. He crouched down on the tile and held Ryo's shoulders. Ryo resisted at first, but then leaned against Bakura, and Bakura wrapped his arms all the way around Ryo's shaking frame. Bakura gave to Ryo what nobody gave to Bakura after the fire. A sanctuary. A safe place made of arms and body heat in which he was free to weep his grief and cry his sorrow. Ryo had cast Zorc out of his body, doctored Kek the best he could, and kept a level head while the police bombarded him with questions. He stayed strong through it all, but now he needed to let the trauma of the day run its course – something Bakura never had a chance to do. There'd never been a safe place, never a safe moment. He'd gone straight from trauma to survival mode from age seven to the moment of his death.

It was only weeks ago - in Marik's bed, in Marik's arms - that Bakura had his first opportunity to break down.

Now he and Ryo crouched together. Ryo cried and it made Bakura feel sick to his stomach. When Ryo's tears settled on their own, Bakura broke the embrace, leaning back on his haunches and staring at Ryo. "Now that he's stable, I bet we can see him."

Ryo nodded, standing up and wiping his eyes dry. "Yeah, half a moment."

Bakura nodded and moved to leave the bathroom.

"Hey Bakura?"

He glanced over his shoulder.

"Thanks."

Bakura shrugged. He wasn't good with words, so he waited outside the bathroom for Ryo.

* * *

Ryo smoothed Kek's hair out of his face with pale fingers that wouldn't stop shaking. Ryo watched Kek sleep. After a full minute, he turned to Bakura. "Take me home."

Bakura scowled. "What?"

"I want to challenge Zorc now, before he does anything rash since I'm not there."

Marik shook his head. "That's not a good idea."

"Neither is crossing our fingers and hoping he doesn't kill the maintenance man when he goes to fix the windows and replace the carpet." Ryo's brown eyes melted, pleading. "Marik, will you stay here and watch Kek in case he wakes up?"

Marik set his jaw, his need to argue blatant on his face, but he closed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah. I'll stay here."

"Thank you." Ryo turned to Bakura. "Let's go."

Bakura nodded; they turned to leave.

"Bakura." Marik reached out his hand to stop him.

Bakura looked at him. Marik's mouth dropped a bit, as if he'd forgotten how to speak. His lilac eyes glistened – fear, worry, a longing to go with them and to share whatever failure or victory they may have.

Bakura's face shifted from its usual amused mask to something sincere. He cupped Marik's face in his hands and brushed their noses together. "I'll be right back. Promise."

Marik nodded, kissing Bakura's bottom lip. He slipped one of his gold bracelets off and put it on Bakura's wrist. "That's for luck, and I expect it back, asshole, so don't take five years this time."

Ryo stood by the door and looked away as they exchanged a few last kisses goodbye. When Bakura stood beside Ryo, they looked at each other, nodded, and then left the hospital room together. Ryo stopped by the waiting room and grabbed the black doll before he left.

Before they reached the apartment, Ryo whispered. "I'm going to trick Zorc into playing on my terms. Play along, okay?"

"You know I love to role play," Bakura answered.

As soon as they stepped into the apartment, the door slammed and locked behind them. Bakura growled low in his throat. He didn't like to be trapped. Ryo ignored the door and walked to the kitchen. He sat down at the kitchen table and set the unfinished Zorc doll where the dark god could see it.

"It's only a matter of time." Ryo kept his gaze on the ground. "Until you're able to return on your own, but that could take months and you don't want to wait . . . so I'm here to make a deal."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryo saw Bakura standing in the doorway, but nothing else moved or changed.

Ryo continued. "I'm making the doll. I'll summon you." Ryo looked up. "Just leave us alone! Take the world, take it all and turn it into Shadows. I don't care as long as you leave us out of it."

"Ryo are you out of your mind?"

"Shut-up, Bakura! You know this is the only way to save Marik." Ryo turned his eyes back to the empty kitchen. "We're your pets, right? That's all I'm asking to be treated as – a pet." Ryo picked the unfinished doll up. "But you're not a human soul. You're a god. It's going to take all four of us to pull you into the physical world. We have to wait until Kek's out of the hospital and strong enough for the game. Then we'll return. Then we'll play."

Ryo looked around for an answer. He noticed Bakura step back, and then saw his sewing basket sliding across the floor and stopping at his feet. In the rush, Ryo only managed to grab the cloth and one needle to take with him. Ryo nodded, dropping the unfinished doll into the basket and picking it up. He bowed low. "Thank you."

Bakura spat on the floor and walked away. Ryo followed him, keeping his head down, making his body language as subservient as possible. The door unlocked and opened as soon as they neared it, and closed again as soon as they exited.

They didn't speak until they stood in the elevator.

Bakura leaned his head back and exhaled. "Lucky for us, you're so good at the sweet and innocent act that even Zorc couldn't tell you were lying."

Ryo shook his head. "He's going to suffer when I send him back to the Shadow Realm. As much as he made you hurt, as much as he made Kek hurt. I'm giving it all back to him."

Bakura shrugged as he stepped out of the elevator. "I know you want someone to tell you that's not the right way, that you shouldn't sink to his level, but you know I can't say that. You know how I feel about a person's right to avenge their people."

Ryo blinked at him. "If I wanted someone to talk me out of it I'd call Yugi. I was wondering if you wanted to help me."

* * *

One moment nothing and the next consciousness. With his eyes closed only dark covered Kek's mind, but he was suddenly aware of a machine beeping, and pain, and a warm hand holding his own. It took a full minute before Kek managed a groan.

"How do you feel?"

The voice made the machine beep faster. Kek feared that Bakura failed and Zorc somehow found a way to force Kek to stay alive, but when he opened his eyes, he realized he was in a hospital. He turned his head and saw Ryo.  _Ryo. Ryo. Ryo. Ryo. Ryo – not Zorc – Ryo._

"Ryo?"

"Yes. It's me. Really me. I'm right here. Oh, Kek, I'm so, so sorry. I'm so sorry."

Quiet sniffing, the verge of sobbing being held back by will alone. Kek couldn't help but smile, regardless.

"My prayer . . . I didn't think the gods would listen to someone like me."

"Jackass," a voice cursed, one that could only belong to Bakura. "The gods had nothing to do with it.  _You_  did it. Ryo came back to his senses the moment you passed out."

Ryo nodded. "I had to save you, even if that meant saving myself."

"Hey Ryo? Next time save yourself to begin with and save me a trip to the hospital, okay?"

Ryo laughed, happy and sad at the same time. Kek squeezed his hand. "What are we going to do now?"

Ryo smiled. The overhead lights made his hair shimmer white like a mirage over sand. "Well, as soon as you're well enough, we're going to go on a double date."

Kek frowned and wondered what sort of pain meds they had in his IV. "No, I meant, what are we going to do about Zorc?"

"Just what I said. Go on a date. It'll be like our first date – a game of Hide and Seek. Only this time, I'm not going to drop my bottle of salt water."

He heard Marik sigh beside Bakura. "And I'm going to follow the rules."

Kek shook his head. "I don't understand."

Ryo lifted up a large Zorc Necrophades plushie. "He wants in our world, so let him come. Although I don't think he's going to enjoy it nearly as much as he thinks he will."

The next two weeks dragged by as Kek waited for his wounds to heal. Not only did the gash down his center scar, but the knife wound left a mark on Kek as well - as if the gods were compensating for the thinner scars on Kek's back. He wanted to go home, but home was occupied by a dark god, so he settled for Marik's sofa. Kurimu never left his side except for when Ryo walked him.

If anything ever proved that Ryo Bakura loved Kek, it was the fact that he woke up at 6:00 each morning in order to keep the little Shiba on his walk schedule. Ryo didn't wake easily at any hour and preferred to sleep in whenever possible; however, Kurimu didn't miss a single walk the entire time Kek recovered. Kek wanted to do it himself. He enjoyed waking up early and sipping coffee while the cold, morning air woke him up before work, but if he tried to leave his bed the other three would have tied him to it.

As soon as Kek could bare the weight of standing, he started moving around the house. Small things at first, going to the window, brewing his own coffee in the kitchen. He felt sore, and weak, and useless, and it infuriated him, but the only thing he could do about it was follow the doctors instructions so he could heal as soon as possible. The more he moved the better he felt until he finally managed to convince Ryo he was ready to walk his own damn dog. That morning, when he returned, he entered the apartment to find Ryo, Bakura, and Marik, sitting in the living room with grave expressions on their faces.

"Tonight," Bakura said.

Kek nodded. "'Bout time. I want my bed back."

 


	15. Chapter 15

Ryo stepped into his apartment and shivered. Frost covered the furniture. The air around them looked too dark, as if something prevented the street lights outside from slipping through the windows. Ryo glanced down at the new carpet in the living room. There'd been too much blood on the old carpet to simply shampoo it.

"I see he's made himself at home." Kek looked around, a baseball bat slung over his shoulder.

"Then let's start the welcome party." Marik turned on a flashlight so they could see better. The beam shook with Marik's hand, but he didn't complain and kept walking forward.

Ryo turned the living room t.v. on and changed the inputs until static filtered over their faces. Even the snow on the screen looked dark and light-less, black and gray instead of gray and white. They crowded into the bathroom, cold despite their bodies standing close together.

Ryo set the rice and hair stuffed Necrophades on the counter as he filled the tub. Bakura mixed four cups of salt water for them to use. They didn't speak until finished.

Ryo faced each of them. "Ready?"

Bakura frowned. "Do we have to say it all at once? We're going to sound like idiots."

Ryo clenched his hands into fists. "You and Marik are idiots. You better do everything correctly or I swear Bakura, I'll—"

"Yeah, yeah, shit, Ryo. It was just a question."

Ryo gave him a silent glare, but then turned back to the doll and picked it up. "Let's get this over with. My stomach hurts."

The spoke together. "Your name is Zorc Necrophades."

Ryo carried the doll to the tub.

"We are the first to be it. We are the first to be it. We are the first to be it."

As Ryo drowned the doll, Kek couldn't help but smile. He and Bakura drowned for so long in darkness, that it was pleasant to see Zorc's avatar get a taste of drowning.

They scattered to their hiding places. Kek closed his eyes as he counted.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Nine."

"Ten."

He opened his eyes and ran back to the bathroom with the others. The air felt heavy as if the dark and cold conducted malevolent energy around them. Ryo winced as he pulled the doll from the water. Kek noticed his hand and arm were bright red from cold. Kek wondered if Zorc suspected their plan.

In union they said. "We found you Zorc Necrophades."

In union they stabbed the doll; Ryo with his scissors, Bakura with his switchblade, Marik with a bronzed knife, and Kek with an ice pick.

"You're it, Zorc Necrophades. You're it, Zorc Necrophades. You're it, Zorc Necrophades."

They each took a cup and ran. Kek placed just outside the bathroom entrance and sipped from his cup of salt water. He set the cup on the floor to his left and waited. It only took ten seconds before a human-sized representation of Zorc stumbled out of the bathroom.

But something was wrong. Kek could see that despite the dark hallway. Zorc stumbled down the hall and towards the living room as if drunk or dying, swaying from one side to the other, pawing at his own face. Kek wondered at it for a moment, but then he remembered how Zorc tried to kiss him while wearing Ryo's body like a suit.

Kek chased Zorc into the living room, and he spat the water against Zorc's back. "I win! I win! I win, you fucker!"

Zorc turned to Kek and Kek jumped back. Kek's eyes widened at what he saw. Red thread laced through the demon's lips, preventing him from opening his mouth. Similar stitches kept his onyx bead eyes open and unblinking.

"Holy Ra." Kek stepped away until his back hit the wall separating the living room and kitchen.

Zorc lumbered towards Kek, arms reaching out. Kek's instincts took over and he swung the baseball bat. One, two, three, four, fives times he knocked the bat into Zorc's skull. He'd anointed the wood with Four Thieves Vinegar and blessed oil that afternoon, and he knew each strike felt like a lightning bolt. Zorc moaned; the stitches in his mouth muted the noise.

At that moment, Kek remembered he left his cup on the floor down the hall. He dashed to his cup,grabbing it and trying not to spill any as he ran back to Zorc and dumped the water over the demon's head.

Before Kek could blink, Bakura stood behind Zorc, a thief appearing from the shadows. He didn't react to Zorc's awkward movements or grotesque face. He spat the water in Zorc's eyes, a sadistic grin on his face as he whispered. "I win. I win. I win, and you'll never touch my soul with your filthy claws again, you goddamn bastard." He tossed the last of his water into Zorc's eyes.

The creature dropped to his knees, clawing at the threads preventing him from closing his eyes. Something like whimpers muffled from thread-sewn lips. Zorc tried to rip his own eyes out of his skull but couldn't pull them away from the tight, red stitching. Salt-water droplets gleamed over the polished disks that served as his eyes. Kek remembered being a doll, and how much the salt burned his skin like acid.

That's when Kek understood. He looked up at Bakura. "Did you do it? Sew his eyes open?"

Bakura chuckled. "No. I only helped bless the rice."

Kek felt his brow furrow. "Bless the rice?"

"We stuffed the doll full of blessed grains of rice. To hurt him. Remembered how he always pushed the darkness inside us? Filled us until we wanted to be undone? Well, we decided to fill him with light, and now he knows how much it hurts. It was Ryo's idea."

Marik ran down the hall, his flashlight beam bouncing as he jogged. He spit his water on Zorc's shoulder. Necrophades lunged towards Marik, but Kek used his baseball bat to knock the dark god back.

"I win. I win. I win." Marik splashed the water onto Zorc without ceremony.

"Well done, Marik. You actually managed to do it correctly." Bakura smirked.

"Congratulate me after this is over, Bakura." Marik frowned. His shaken and stressed body language suggested that he didn't know about Ryo and Bakura's trap anymore than Kek had, or perhaps he was tired of being in dark rooms.

Kek saw Ryo enter the living room last. His magnolia white skin looked pale and colorless. His footsteps glided so quiet and smooth across the carpet that Kek found himself imagining Ryo as a spirit, ethereal instead of mortal. Even his hair seemed to float around his shoulders independent of gravity or earthly laws.

Kek and Bakura knelt down to hold Zorc in place so he couldn't fight. Ragged, harsh breaths wheezed out of Zorc's nostrils. He stared at Ryo, angry for only a moment and then . . . desperate . . . terrified.

Ryo dropped to his knees. He bent forward and pressed his lips against Zorc's. The creature wailed through sewn lips in misery as water dribbled down his chin.

Kek stared at Ryo's face. He didn't look satisfied like Bakura. He looked like he felt every single wound that Zorc felt.

"I win. I win. I win."

He raised his hand and tilted his cup so that the salt water trickled into Zorc's eyes. As Zorc thrashed to escape the agony, Ryo bent low and whispered in the demon's ear. Kek couldn't hear, but the sight made him shudder, a strange mixture of grief, and horror, and lust filled his belly as Zorc thrashed to be free of the pain. Grief because of the torment on Ryo's face even as he continued to pour the water with a slow, steady hand. Horror because the sight stirred old, familiar, violent cravings in Kek's heart that he'd always carry with him. Lust because it aroused Kek to see Ryo – soft-spoken, polite, Ryo who loved so purely that he couldn't bare embroidering scars on a doll's back – fight back with ruthless, controlled efficiency.

Part of him wanted to grab Ryo, to take him on the doll's corpse – for it was only a doll now - Zorc was sealed back into the Shadows the moment the last of the water hit the fabric of his skin. Kek wanted to push all his thoughts out of his mind and move, and sweat, and hold Ryo until they both cried out and gave-up that moment when they thought they lost each other.

Ryo dropped his cup to the floor. His shoulders shook as he sobbed. Kek grabbed Ryo and pressed his face against Kek's chest. "It didn't help, did it?"

Ryo shook his head "no" into Kek's chest.

"That's the problem with revenge," Kek whispered, petting Ryo's hair. "Even when you get it, you don't feel any better. You're stuck with the memories, and it hurts, and there's no one left to hate. That's how I felt . . ." Kek pressed his face into Ryo's hair.

Marik sank down beside them, finishing Kek's sentence for him. "That's how we felt when we killed our father."

And Marik wrapped his arms over both Kek and Ryo. A moment later he felt Bakura on the other side. Kek, Marik, and Bakura sat with their arms around each other and Ryo pressed in the center. Kek thought of a jewel resting inside a lotus,  _om mani padme hum._

"It still had to be done." Ryo dried his eyes against Kek's hoodie. "And I don't regret how I chose to end it. I just wish—" additional tears interrupted Ryo's words until he swallowed them and took back control of himself. "I don't like hurting anyone.  _Anyone_ , but, but I was so . . ."

"Angry," Bakura whispered.

"Yes."

Kek nodded. "And you wanted to take all that pain in your chest and cram it down his throat."

"No." Ryo clenched his hand into a fist. "I wanted to take all the pain in  _your_  chest and suffocate Zorc with it. I couldn't stand seeing him try to use you. I couldn't stand watching you hurt yourself."

Kek's hand shook as he stroked Ryo's hair. No one ever cared before, not about his pain.

"I don't feel bad. Not at all. He never felt bad for anyone he ever hurt. Besides, If you hadn't blessed the rice, Zorc would have fought, and we would have died," Bakura said.

"I know." Ryo broke their four-way embrace. He took the doll and his scissors and cut the extra threads from the eyes and mouth.

Kek shook his head, only Ryo would try to show kindness to a doll after completely dominating the enemy possessing it.

Ryo noticed Kek's stare. "I know it's dumb, but . . . even a dark god doesn't deserve to be mistreated. We played against him, we won, and we showed him we weren't going to tolerate his presence in the world. It's over. There's no reason to keep the thread on while we burn his effigy. That wouldn't feel right, somehow."

"Let's go." Marik looked out the window. "Before the sun rises."

They put on coats and walked outside. Even in the snow, it didn't feel as cold in the before-dawn air as it had in Ryo's apartment. They took a train to the outskirts of Domino and found an unpopulated area where they could burn the doll without people questioning them.

The sky tinted pink, making the snow around them blush. Even with lighter fluid, it was difficult to light the sopping wet doll, but they managed. Bakura added dose after dose of lighter fluid until the cloth dried and the fabric burned. They stood and watched in silence, putting their hands near the fire to thaw their fingers, none of them having remembered gloves.

They buried the ashes under a bush with the jar containing the remaining Four Thieves Vinegar. Ryo prayed beside the bush for a long time while Kek watched the sunrise, and it amounted to the same thing, really.

As they waited, Bakura held Marik's hands, kneading them and keeping them warm. They didn't pray; instead, they stared at each other, and it amounted to the same thing – prayers, and sunlight, and holding hands, each was the same as the other.

On the train ride home, Bakura stared at the ceiling as if something great and ponderous resided above them. After a few minutes, he stopped looking up. He pulled his switchblade out of his pocket and started sawing off sections of hair right there on the train, pulling the window down a crack so he could push the loose strands outside and watch them scatter in the air.

"Bakura? What the hell are you doing?" Marik asked.

"Cutting my hair."

"I liked your hair long."

"You'll like it short as well."

"You can't just pull out a knife on the train like that."

"Yeah? No one's stopping me."

"Well, no one else is here at the moment, but what if someone else decides to sit in this car?"

"Then they'll probably leave me alone – which is fine with me."

Marik narrowed his eyes. "Do you seriously have to do that  _right this minute_?"

"Yes. I used to wear my hair shorter when I was alive, but I haven't thought about it until now."

Marik rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I give up. If someone calls the police, I don't know you and I'm not bailing you out of prison."

Bakura smirked as he lopped away one of his rabbit ears. "I've never broken out of a modern prison before, and I do enjoy a challenge."

Ryo tilted his head. "Bakura, I have scissors in my pocket."

Bakura snorted. "I've never used scissors before."

Marik hadn't given up half as much as he said he had. "Or a mirror? You have no idea what you even look like."

Bakura rolled his eyes a little. "It'll look fine, Marik."

"This is driving me crazy. Stop it. I'll take you to my hair dresser if you want a hair cut that badly."

Bakura laughed at that, and it really would be useless to stop with as many chunks as he'd taken off his hair by that point. Ryo joined Bakura's laughter. Kek looked at the three of them sitting in a train car as dawn made everything orange light and black silhouette. He had to laugh as well. He laughed because Ryo laughed, because Bakura sat there and hacked at his hair with a pocket knife, and because Marik sat with his arms crossed over his chest, looking anxious as he watched Bakura. It somehow broke the tension of the night before. Zorc was already becoming something that belonged in the past tense, and the moment was for cutting hair on a train and laughing.

Bakura cleaned up the last stray wisps of hair and shut the window. He scrubbed his hair through with his fingers, testing the feel of the shorter locks. He'd kept the front loose and shaggy, but hardly anything remained of the back. Kek had to admit that it did look good on him. It made him look more like himself in a way and less like Ryo, and that was fine with Kek.

Bakura looked at Marik with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Marik stared in the opposite direction and ignored him.

"Say it."

Marik snorted. "Say what?"

Bakura scooted a little closer to Marik. "How damn sexy I look."

"Idiot, you have no idea how you look."

"Well, I must look good because if I looked bad you'd be rubbing it in my face."

Marik gave Bakura an irritated growl. He reached over and grabbed a fistful of the shaggier strands in front. He tugged at Bakura's hair a moment before letting go and sitting back. "Yeah, I guess it'll work."

Bakura smirked. "I'll get you to say it later."

"I think it looks good!" Ryo stopped laughing so he could give Bakura the compliment.

"See?" Bakura gestured in Ryo's direction. "At least someone has good taste around here."

Kek leaned against Ryo's shoulder. After a minute, he found himself dozing while Marik and Bakura argued. Ryo shook him awake when they returned to the Domino Station.

* * *

When he picked up Kurimu at Marik's, the little Shiba whined and lectured Kek for being late for their walk. He made up for it by taking Kurimu around the park three times instead of twice, and picking up a new rawhide bone for him before they went home.

He expected Ryo to be asleep, but he sat in the kitchen, dangling a crystal from a string.

"Ryo, what are you doing?"

Ryo shrugged. "Divining. We thought Zorc was gone once before. I'm trying to get confirmation this time."

Kek gave Kurimu his bone and allowed the puppy to run into the living room. Kek sat down at the table across from Ryo. "What's it saying?"

"I've asked if the tear was fully closed seven times, and seven times the crystal answered 'yes'."

"How do you know?"

"By the way it swings."

"Does it usually give such consistent answers?"

Ryo smiled, setting the crystal down on the table. "No. It usually varies. That's a good sign, right?"

Kek sighed. "I hope so."

"I mean, there's no reason for it  _not_  to have worked, but still . . ."

Kek stretched like a cat. "At least the beds are still safe."

Ryo licked his bottom lip. "Are you suggesting we go to sleep?"

Kek stood and scooped Ryo up in his arms. He carried Ryo to the bedroom and set him down on their bed. They pulled their shirts off. Kek kissed the five scars on Ryo's chest, and Ryo kissed the long scar in the center of Kek's chest. They traced their fingers along each other's torsos. White and brown and brown and white until their bodies swirled together like cream and coffee and became one drink, and they sipped on it together, right off of their lips.

Kek pulled away from their kisses and grabbed Ryo tight, hiding his face in Ryo's hair. "I haven't been alone with you since it happened, but . . . you came back. I thought I'd lost you, but you came back."

Ryo pressed Kek harder against his own body. "I used to fear getting possessed, but when I saw you bleeding I realized the thing I feared the most was losing you."

Kek pulled back enough to look at Ryo. Their eyes held for a moment. The blinds and curtain guarding the window kept the room in shadows, but enough sunlight crept past the barriers to illuminate Ryo's white hair. It looked like a halo of white light surrounded him. Kek reached out and combed his fingers through the glowing locks. He couldn't help the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He hovered his lips close to Ryo's lips, mouthing  _I love you_. Ryo shadowed him, saying it back. Their lips hinted against each other, and somewhere the  _I love you's_ became broad, trembling kisses.

Ryo slipped behind Kek and kissed his back, feathering his pale lips against each letter and symbol marking Kek's skin. Kek reached back until he found Ryo's hand. Kek pressed the ivory hand against his scarred stomach, to the second section of scarring below his navel that had transformed to flesh during their first, proper kiss.

Each of Ryo's kisses re-wrote the markings on Kek's back, transforming the symbols into their memories – not the Pharaoh's. Once finished, Ryo pressed Kek down onto his belly, kissing the nape of Kek's neck and caressing down the length of Kek's side.

"Yes," Kek whispered when Ryo's hand fumbled along Kek's inner thigh. He hadn't noticed Ryo get the lube, but as soon as he felt Ryo's slick fingers push inside him, Kek arched his back. His voice growled in a low, rough tone. "Yes, Ryo. Yes."

They hadn't been alone since before Kek went to the hospital, hadn't gotten to truly celebrate the fact that they both still lived. They lived, and it made Kek want to run and cackle like a maniac into the bright, sunlit streets, but for the moment, he only wanted Ryo pressed against him. As close as possible, he wanted to feel Ryo's heart pounding against Kek's scars.

Ryo slipped inside Kek, moving gently for only a moment before building speed.

"Ryo!"

Everything was fire, heat, and light as they moved. Kek spent so much time in cold darkness, but this was the exact opposite. Kek screamed out words far too pretty for his mouth. He told Ryo how sweet it was, and how good, and begged for Ryo to please, please, please give him more, until Ryo couldn't hold back any longer and poured his seed into Kek's body.

Kek shifted on his back. Ryo grabbed Kek's erection and stroked him as he kissed Kek's chest, sometimes dragging his lips across the scar proving Kek was flesh and not thread, and sometimes wandering to more sensitive areas like his nipples. Kek sunk his nails into Ryo's back, clawing at the soft skin while his own orgasm left him incapable of thought.

And when it was over they clung to each other as if the universe would unravel if they let go, and perhaps it would. Kek was rather sure it would, so he held Ryo a little closer as he drifted into a calm sleep, smooth and white like the light slipping through the edges of their bedroom window.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There is that great proverb—that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter…Once I realized that, I had to be a writer…It's not one person's job. But it is something we have to do, so that the story of the hunt will also reflect the agony, the travail—the bravery, even, of the lions." ~Chinua Achebe, on "the danger of not having your own stories"
> 
> I don't know, I just really like the idea of Yami B getting ruthless, academic vengeance against the Pharaoh. The above quote does a good job of expressing *why* I like that idea. It also kinda explains one of the reasons I like Thiefshipping in general.

Marik sat on his sofa, doing homework. He usually didn't bother with homework. He'd never cared about his GPA before, but something made him want to try a little harder this semester - if only to see what he was capable of.

He heard the door open and close behind him. Marik glanced over his shoulder to see Bakura walk in, a backpack slung over one shoulder. He crashed on the couch next to Marik and pulled a book of ancient cultures out of his bag.

"So?" Marik asked.

"So what?" Bakura half ignored him as he searched through the book.

"First day of classes. Do you hate it?"

A bit of grin decorated Bakura's face. "What if I did?"

Marik shrugged. "Well, I imagine you'd be slashing your books with that switchblade you stole from me if you hated it too much."

"You owed me a knife. I threw my last one in the pier after stabbing myself to help you." He flicked out the blade he kept in his pocket and licked the steel, as he had all those years ago, before stowing the knife again.

Marik ignored Bakura's knife-play. "You never told me if you liked your classes or not."

"You never told me if you liked my hair or not."

Marik's eyes shifted to the slurry of white bangs falling into Bakura's rust-colored eyes. "Idiot, you know I do."

Bakura turned back to the pages of his book with a satisfied look on his face. "I feel three-thousand years old when I'm on campus."

"I can't imagine why."

"Each time a professor assigned homework those little brats complained about having to do something on their first day. Stupid, idiot children. Don't they realize they have access to knowledge that once belonged only to priests and kings?"

"Or how lucky they are that they get to major in something other than  _The Life and Memories of the Pharaoh._  I know how you feel." Marik smirked. "Does that mean you like school?"

Bakura smirked as well, a wicked look that reminded Marik of their Battle City days. "What if I told you that I've found one last way to defeat Atem?"

Marik laughed. "I think if you told me that I'd say 'oh no, here we go again'. How does a mortal defeat a spirit in Paradise?"

Bakura set his book to the side, pulling his knees up so he could use them as a rest for his arms. "Remember how I said history is written by the winners? True as that is, history is also written by the  _survivors_. I'm alive; Atem is not."

"But Yugi is."

Bakura's smirk widened, showing teeth as white as his skin and hair. "That does make it more fun, doesn't it? I have no doubt I'll be seeing Motou in many of my classes in the upcoming years. I also have no doubt that every paper he can, he'll write about how glorious life was for the Pharaoh and his people. A rather lopsided history, don't you think?"

"Are you going to write about Kul Elna?"

Bakura frowned. "If I ever can. It'll be hard to prove what happened to my village. Aknadin did his best to erase that history even as it happened. Three-thousand years won't make it easier to find evidence; however, Kul Elna wasn't the only victim of that era. There was a _reason_  that my village of tomb builders became thieves. There was a  _reason_  that they made the Millennium Items despite the cost. Kemet was on the verge of collapse. The Items pushed back the inevitable, but even during Atem's rule, the land was plagued by poverty, crime, and grief. There'll be evidence of that."

Marik bit his bottom lip. "I can probably help. There are texts, in the tomb in which I was raised. It'll be hard to get to them, even now, but I bet Rishid would help me if I asked him."

"I'd . . . appreciate that." Bakura went back to his book. "I could never beat him, in a game, but this . . ." Bakura grew thoughtful. "This, I can do. I'll write better essays now. In time I'll publish better articles. I couldn't destroy his soul, but I'll make sure the history of that time isn't a simple one."

"I think you will at that." Marik smiled, turning back to his book. "Yugi may have the luck of the gods on his side, but no one argues a point better than you."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment, though I hear the smirk in your tone."

"You're being paranoid." Marik winked at him.

They both continued to study. Marik managed to finish his assignments and peek at his books for his Tuesday classes by the time Bakura slammed his books shut and dropped them on the floor.

"I'm starving."

"I was thinking of taking a break, as well." Marik licked his lips.

Bakura didn't notice as he stretched and ruffled his hair to shake out some of the tension in his head. "What should we order for dinner?"

Marik crawled into Bakura's lap, holding each side of Bakura's face so he couldn't look anywhere but at Marik. "I was thinking about dessert, actually."

Bakura arched his white eyebrows. "Dessert before dinner?"

"I haven't had the chance to show you why I like this sofa so much."

Bakura scowled. "How many people have you fooled around with on this couch?"

Marik made his own face. "Are you kidding? I never brought anyone here. I never liked anyone enough to want them to know where I lived."

"Then where were you getting blow jobs?"

"Places," Marik snapped.

"What places? How come you haven't taken me to places?"

"You wouldn't want to go to places."

"For a hand job I might." Bakura snorted, crossing his arms over his chest, though he and Marik sat so close that the motion made his elbows brushed against Marik's chest.

"I'm trying to give you more than that here!"

"You still never told me what places."

Marik clenched his teeth. "Gods, you're so damn annoying. Sometimes at their place, and twice in a bathroom on the train. Are you fucking happy now?"

Bakura wrinkled his nose. "Train bathroom?"

"It really wasn't worth it either time. That's why I'd rather be here in my apartment, with my expensive furniture, and my boyfr—err, partner. Whatever."

Bakura laughed with his head thrown back. "You've been hanging around those other two morons for far too long."

Marik growled.

Bakura's laughter simmered into a low sound, almost a purr. "That reminds me – whatever happened to whispering 'I love yous' to me in the kitchen?"

"I didn't  _mean_  to say that," Marik hissed.

Bakura uncrossed his arms in order to draw on Marik's chest. He looked more serious than usual. "Oh? That's kinda a shame. It's what truly made me . . . real."

Marik looked down, staring at Bakura's white fingers tracing along Marik's shirt. "Then why didn't you ever say it back?"

Bakura shrugged.

Marik ran his fingertips down Bakura's cheek, nudging Bakura's chin up so that he looked at Marik. "What if I said it again?"

"Give it a try," Bakura whispered.

Marik swallowed. His throat felt dry, and his chest felt like flan. He had to let go of Bakura's face because he worried that his palms would sweat.

"Fine." Marik snorted, as if Bakura's answer had been a dare. He swallowed one last time.

As he said it, Bakura said it with him. "I love you."

He never knew how badly he wanted to hear it until he heard their voices mixing together in the living room. They looked away from each other. When Marik gathered his courage, he turned and looked down at Bakura. A slight flush betrayed Bakura's feelings.

"The short hair is starting to grow on me," Marik said, almost as a consolation.

"I usually wear it a little longer, but it grows fast so I always cut it short," Bakura said, trying to say anything matter-of-fact to clean his last sentence from the air.

Before Marik could think about it, his lips pulled at Bakura's. They shifted. Bakura scooted against the sofa arm and spread his clothed legs, and Marik leaned heavily against him.

Their clothes piled on top of their books.

* * *

Ryo woke to the feeling of Kurimu licking Ryo's hand. Ryo giggled, slipping his hand under the comforter to escape the puppy - who wasn't quiet a puppy any longer. "That tickles," Ryo muttered, trying to fall back asleep.

Kurimu yipped at Ryo. Since Kek got up at 6:00 am, Kurimu expected everyone to.

"Shhh. I'll get up soon." Ryo buried himself deeper into his pillow. It was Sunday, and that meant Marik and Bakura would stop by before noon for food and games, but Ryo didn't want to get up just yet.

A bang from the kitchen changed his mind. Ryo froze, waiting for the single bang to turn into a set of three. It didn't, but he heard another single bang of cupboards, followed by muffled sounds.

_Gods, no. Gods, no. Gods please no._

Ryo held his breath as he prayed. He wasn't even sure which gods he prayed to. Any that would listen, he supposed. He didn't want to go through it again. They'd gotten back into their routines. Their lives were happy. How many times would he have to fight?

Ryo threw himself out of bed, holding his breath as he marched down the hallway. The puppy followed him. Ryo looked around, but didn't see Kek. He tried calling out, but his throat felt constricted, too tight for noise.

Another cluster of noises from the kitchen. Ryo burst in, expecting the worse, expecting cold, and dark, and a shadow god waiting for revenge.

Instead he saw Kek. He kept looking in cupboards and slamming them shut as he tried to stir something in a large, baking bowl at the same time.

"Shit, Kek! You scared the fuck out of me!"

"What'd I do?" Kek asked, paying more attention to his bowl than to Ryo. "How the hell do you make this look so easy?"

"Make what look easy? Y'know, it's kinda scary to hear banging in the kitchen now."

Kek laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. Zorc's long gone. Marik said all of Ishizu's nightmares went away as soon as we played our last game of Hide and Seek." Kek slammed the bowl on the counter near the stove, ladling a lumpy batter into a hot skillet. "Breakfast. You make it look like it's nothing, but this is fucking hard to do!"

Ryo focused on the mess on the counters and the flour on Kek's cheek. His chest relaxed; his heart stopped beating quite so hard. "You're . . . making me breakfast?"

Kek shrugged, a little bashful. "Yeah, I mean you make it every Sunday, but who ever cooks for you?"

"Kek." Ryo smiled. "That's so sweet."

Kek rolled his eyes. "Don't make me seem like a pansy. I just . . . y'know. Whatever, I guess I am a pansy, fucking humanity."

"Showing someone you care about them doesn't make you a pansy." Ryo snorted. "What would be easier? Holding hands in public, or stabbing someone attacking you?"

"Mmmm, stabbing. Talk dirty to me, you slut. Can I flip these yet?"

Ryo laughed, walking to the stove and staring at the half-done pancakes. "No. See all the bubbles? Wait until they pop and then flip them." Ryo looked at Kek. "Stabbing someone is easier, so who's stronger? A person that stabs another? Or a person that holds the hand of another?"

"Stronger or not, it was sexier when you were talking about stabbing." Kek teased as he flipped the pancakes.

Despite the lumpy batter, they looked like they would turn out rather well. Ryo started putting away the flour and wiping milk and eggshells off of his counter. "Next time I can show you what to do."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"You did."

Kek grabbed Ryo and kissed him. Ryo felt stupid, with a dirty dishcloth in his hand and his teeth unbrushed, but he couldn't resist kissing Kek in return as they stood barefoot in the kitchen. When Kek pulled away Ryo caught his breath and set the dishcloth down. "That was also a surprise."

Kek grinned, setting the first batch of pancakes on a plate and starting a second batch. "So . . . you haven't taken me on a date in awhile."

Ryo beamed. He'd been waiting for Kek to mention it. "I know, but I've been planning one. I even bought some things last week when you were at work. I'm glad you haven't found them yet!"

Now Kek looked surprised. "What did you buy?"

Ryo gave Kek a sly look. "Now that . . . is a secret."

"Tell me."

"Better flip your pancakes."

Kek did, but the moment he was done he turned back to Ryo. He teased Ryo's throat with little kisses. "What did you buy?"

Ryo giggled. "I hid everything in the guest room closet."

It was the guest room again, since Ryo and Kek had shared one room for months now. Kek gave Ryo's neck a few more kisses and a playful bite for punctuation before dashing off to the guest room.

"Your pancakes!" Ryo called after him.

"Dammit." Kek ran back and got the next batch going before disappearing again.

Ryo grinned and followed him, enjoying the excited look on Kek's face as he dug through the closet. He pulled down two sleeping bags and a box containing a tent. He looked at Ryo, and Ryo smiled.

"Camping?" Kek asked, a wide, boyish grin on his face.

"Well, you like the park, and going outside to walk Kurimu, so I thought camping would be a good date."

Kek threw Ryo onto the guest bed and attacked Ryo's mouth with eager kisses. Without warning, Kek jumped up and ran out the room.

"Hey!" Ryo called out.

"Pancakes!" Kek shouted as he ran down the hall.

Ryo laughed, putting away the sleeping bags and going to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He was glad he did. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, Kek grabbed him and lifted him into the air, lavishing kisses on both Ryo's throat and mouth.

* * *

It was like getting lucky on top of a cloud. Bakura always made sure to spread a blanket over the leather so the fabric didn't stick to his sweat-slick skin. The over-stuffed cushions hugged Bakura's body as Marik pushed into him. Bakura couldn't do much more than hold on, his vocabulary reduced to Marik's name. He didn't want it to stop. Bakura kept his arms wrapped around Marik's back and away from his own erection in order to draw out the experience. Bakura allowed the rocking of Marik's body to sweep him away, a leaf caught in a gale.

Marik groaned. Bakura could tell that Marik wanted to move faster, but kept himself going at the same steady pace until Bakura was ready to finish. Bakura pressed his mouth against Marik's chest, kissing everything he could reach, and allowing the sensation of Marik's skin against his lips to bring him closer to the edge without direct stimulation. When he couldn't bear it, Bakura reached down and slipped his hand over his own shaft.

A relieved moan escaped from Marik when he noticed, his speed increasing. Marik thrust deeper and the change caused Marik's cock to strike Bakura's prostate until Bakura was incoherent with the pleasure of his orgasm. Bakura muttered something into Marik's chest afterward, but he wasn't sure what he'd said – although he feared it was something to do with Marik being amazing. The compliment spurred Marik to push even faster until his body went rigid with his own climax.

They lay together on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and curled together. Bakura slept, and dreamed, but the dreams were ordinary. He no longer had nightmares about the Darkness.

* * *

"Now blow out the fire." Ryo demonstrated by blowing out the flames eating at the marshmallow at the end of Ryo's stick. "Kek, your marshmallow is burning."

Kek shook his head and copied Ryo's actions. "How do you expect me to pay attention to my marshmallow, when you're blowing on yours? You're mouth is too sexy for that kind of distraction."

Ryo smirked. "That's okay. I'll just eat the whole bag by myself and you can sit there and watch."

Kek grabbed the bag of marshmallows and hid it behind his back so Ryo couldn't eat anymore. Ryo laughed, making a mock attempt to grab the bag and using it as an excuse to crawl into Kek's lap. The cold air stung at their faces, but the fire beside them fought off most of the chill. They sat on a plastic tarp with their sleeping bags zipped together to create one large, warm pouch for them to sit in as they toasted marshmallows.

"Hey, give me those." Ryo reached over Kek's shoulder.

"No." Kek dropped the bag onto the snow and pine needle carpet below them in order to slip his hands around Ryo's waist as he kissed Ryo's neck. "I have something sweeter for you."

"S'mores?" Ryo asked, a teasing smile on his face.

"No. Me."

"I don't know . . ." Ryo pretended to consider Kek's words. "You're pretty sweet, but are you sweeter than s'mores?"

"No, I'm not." Kek's kisses turned into little bites.

Ryo threw his head back to expose more of his neck for Kek to bite. In the firelight, his pure white hair glowed yellow and orange, making it look as if Ryo burned in flames. Kek pulled Ryo's shirt off with a single, well-practiced tug.

Ryo sat back, holding his bare chest with his arms and shivering. "It's cold."

"It won't be in a minute." Kek grinned, pulling Ryo tight so that his body heat could warm the other male and yanking their sleeping bag up higher around them.

Kek removed his own shirt, noticing how his nipples perked up as the cold air hit his chest. Ryo's looked the same, only their color was a soft, frosting pink, almost as pale as the rest of Ryo's body. Kek pulled Ryo's chest to his mouth, alternating between gentle nips of his teeth and quick flicks of his tongue. In less than a minute he had Ryo squirming and whimpering – the cold forgotten.

Kek yanked at the zipper to Ryo's jeans. He managed to unfasten them easy enough; unfortunately, he couldn't push them past Ryo's hips while Ryo sat in Kek's lap. They both had to stand to finish undressing, exchanging unhappy looks as the cold air invaded their bodies.

"I should have waited for spring to take you camping." Ryo crouched back down in the sleeping bag.

"No way. This is worth a little cold."

"Um . . ." Ryo smiled, sinking a little deeper into the sleeping bag. "We left the lube in the tent, didn't we?"

Kek scowled at the tent when he realized Ryo was right. Most of their things sat packed in a duffle bag inside the tent. It was only three feet away from their sleeping bags and fire . . . but that was a long, snow-covered three feet. Their shoes and socks were next to the fire, but Kek decided to race the distance.

"Shit, shit, shit," he swore with each step. The snow felt like teeth against the soles of his feet. The tent felt a little less cold. The sides prevented the wind from hitting Kek's bare ass, but without the fire, Kek's teeth chattered and his breath rose like dragon's smoke. He tore through their clothes, leaving them bunched up next to the duffle bag as he grabbed the lube and sprinted back to the sanctuary of fire, and sleeping bags, and Ryo's body heat.

"Ah! You're freezing!"

"Sorry." Kek snickered as he pressed the cold bottle of lube against Ryo's chest.

"You stop that right now!" Ryo tried to evade Kek's cold hands and the bottle of lube, but there wasn't anywhere for him to go zipped up in a sleeping bag.

"I have to warm it up before I use it on you."

Ryo pushed the bottle against Kek's body. "Use your own body heat."

Kek used his left arm to grab Ryo and pressed their bodies together. "We'll do it together."

Ryo giggled as he rubbed the cold away from Kek's shoulders. Once the bottle didn't feel like ice against their skin, Kek used it to help him prepare Ryo. They didn't have much of a system. Usually whoever grabbed the lube first ended up topping. Ryo winced at first, but Kek knew it was more from the cold of the gel than from Kek's fingers. After a minute, Ryo's expression changed to a soft, wanting stare that made Kek impatient to start. He forced himself to wait another moment, but when Ryo started shifting and spreading his legs as wide as the sleeping bag permitted, Kek knew he could begin.

Kek felt a different kind of shiver as he began to move inside Ryo's body. The wind picked up, blowing sparks from the fire into the air - tiny fireflies that died as soon as they landed against the snow. The scents of woodsmoke, pine-boughs, and snow clung to the air. Kek tasted salt as he licked his tongue along Ryou's collarbone. Ryo's whimpers grew into low, husky whispers of desire.

Kek looked down at Ryo. He could almost see the constellations reflecting in the dark pools of brown. Overwhelmed by a sudden swell of emotion, Kek bent low and kissed Ryo as they made love. He wanted to taste Ryo's mouth because Ryo tasted like the universe. Like everything Kek always wanted but couldn't have because it was outside and he'd been underground.

But now Kek was outside, beneath the constellations and pine canopy, on top of frozen dirt and snow. He was outside with everything he'd ever wanted, and he was tasting the universe.


End file.
